DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


bolume 

IS  PRESENTED  TO 


BY 

THE  MASSASOIT  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION 

In  token  of  its  appreciation  of  a contribution  to  the 
fund  for  the  erection  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  of  a 
memorial  to  Massasoit. 

Boston,  Mass.,  1919 


President 


Clerk 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/massasoitofwampa01week_0 


MASSASOIT  OF  THE  WAMPANOAGS 


MASSASOIT 

l\ 

OF  THE  WAMPAIOAGS 


WITH  A BRIEF  COMMENTARY  ON  INDIAN 
CHARACTER;  AND  SKETCHES  OF  OTHER 
GREAT  CHIEFS,  TRIBES  AND  NATIONS;  ALSO 
A CHAPTER  ON  SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND 
HOBAMOCK,  THREE  EARLY  NATIVE 
FRIENDS  OF  THE  PLYMOUTH  COLONISTS 


BY 

ALVIN  G.  WEEKS 

PAST  GREAT  SACHEM  OF  THE  IMPROVED  ORDER  OF  RED  MEN 
OF  MASSACHUSETTS  AND  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MASSASOIT 
MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED 
1920 


COPYRIGHT  1919,  BY 
ALVIN  G.  WEEKS, 
FALL  RIVER,  MASS. 


THB'PLIMPTON* PRESS 
NORWOOD*  MASS*  U*S*A 


97  o.  x 

/X  4 /'4vV 


TO  THE 

MEMORY  OF  MASSASOIT 

GREAT  SACHEM  OF  THE  WAMPANOAG  INDIANS,  1620-1661, 
WHO,  BY  HIS  FRIENDLY  DISPOSITION  TOWARDS  THE 
WHITES,  AND  HIS  FAITHFUL  OBSERVANCE  OF  HIS  TREATY 
OBLIGATIONS  TO  THEM,  HAS  EARNED  THE  UNDYING 
GRATITUDE  OF  HUMANITY,  THIS  WORK  IS  RESPECTFULLY 
DEDICATED. 


FOREWORD 


IN  the  summer  of  1910,  while  serving  as 
Great  Sachem  of  the  Improved  Order  of  Red 
Men  of  Massachusetts,  I had  occasion  to  accom- 
pany my  Deputy  Great  Sachem  for  the  Plymouth 
District  and  a party  of  Great  Chiefs  and  mem- 
bers of  the  order  with  their  families  and  friends, 
on  a visitation  to  the  tribe  located  in  that  old  his- 
toric town.  Our  official  duties  performed,  we 
visited  the  many  places  of  particular  interest, 
the  spots  especially  consecrated  to  Freedom  by 
the  restless  energy  of  the  men  of  three  centuries 
ago. 

We  saw  the  beautiful  memorial  erected  to  the 
Pilgrims,  and  the  memorable  rock  which  their 
feet  first  pressed  on  December  21,  1620;  we 
climbed  the  hill  to  view  the  spot  where  so  many 
of  them  were  laid  at  rest  during  their  first  winter 
of  hardship  and  suffering,  and  where  later  the 
ashes  of  many  more  were  mingled  with  the  dust; 
we  stood  on  the  summit  of  Cole's  Hill  from 
which  we  looked  out  upon  the  harbor  where  the 
Mayflower  once  lay  at  anchor;  we  saw  the  relics 
of  bygone  days,  exhibited  in  the  Memorial  Hall, 

vii 


Vlll 


MASSASOIT 


and  traversed  the  same  old  streets  laid  out  by  the 
fathers. 

Many  of  us  had  seen  it  all  before,  while  for 
others  it  was  the  first  visit ; but,  whether  for  the 
first  time,  or  to  view  again  and  again  the  old  his- 
toric spots,  the  real  landmarks  of  the  birthplace 
of  free  government,  as  exemplified  by  nearly 
three  hundred  years  of  colonial  and  national  life, 
the  patriotic  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  all  alike 
was  thoroughly  aroused. 

A bronze  tablet  on  a house  on  Leyden  Street, 
marking  the  spot  where,  on  March  22,  1621, 
Massasoit  and  Governor  Carver  entered  into  a 
treaty  of  peace,  friendship  and  mutual  aid  and 
protection,  attracted  our  attention.  I had  seen  it 
many  times  before,  but  it  seemed  fraught  with  a 
new  significance  on  that  occasion.  Whether  the 
mental  association  of  the  name  of  our  order  with 
the  aborigines,  or  that  of  viy  official  designation 
with  that  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Wampanoags 
contributed  to  the  thought,  I cannot  say;  but  for 
some  reason  the  suggestion  came  to  my  mind  that 
in  1920  the  people  of  Massachusetts  undoubtedly 
would  celebrate  in  fitting  manner  the  third  cen- 
tenary of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
In  my  report  at  the  conclusion  of  my  term  in  the 
Great  Chieftaincy,  I brought  this  matter  to  the 
attention  of  the  Great  Council  with  a recommen- 
dation that  steps  be  taken  towards  erecting,  in 
connection  with  the  celebration  of  this  Centen- 


FOREWORD 


IX 


nial,  a monument  or  other  memorial  to  Massa- 
soit,  Great  Sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  who  for 
forty  years  religiously  observed  both  the  spirit 
and  the  letter  of  the  treaty  he  had  made  with  the 
colonists,  and  urged  his  sons  to  maintain  the 
same  friendly  relations.  The  recommendation 
was  not  fruitful  of  immediate  results,  but  even- 
tually it  took  root,  and,  following  it,  some  of  the 
members  of  the  order  formed  a corporation  under 
the  name  of  the  Massasoit  Memorial  Associa- 
tion, for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  project. 

Primarily  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men  is 
a patriotic  society,  tracing  its  descent  from  the 
Sons  of  Liberty,  and  limiting  its  membership  to 
American  citizens;  and,  while  teaching  pa- 
triotism, it  has  endeavored  to  preserve  some  of 
the  customs  of  the  aborigines,  and  to  pay  due 
tribute  to  their  many  manly  virtues,  which  we, 
as  the  dominant  race,  have  been  too  strongly  in- 
clined to  overlook  or  to  ignore.  In  pursuit  of 
this  general  purpose,  and  in  aid  of  the  project 
which  we  have  undertaken,  this  work  has  been 
prepared  for  presentation  to  those  who  may  de- 
sire to  contribute  to  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 
It  is  our  plan  to  make  this  a popular  movement, 
that  this  statue  when  erected,  may  be  the  New 
World’s  tribute  to  the  noble  Red  Man  who  stood 
guard  over  the  cradle  in  which  its  liberties  were 
nurtured;  and  the  principal  object  of  the  writer 
in  preparing  this  compilation  of  historical  facts 


X 


MASSASOIT 


has  been  to  array  these  facts  so  that  they  will 
present  a living,  moving  panorama  of  the  long 
ago,  an  examination  of  which  will  disclose  a com- 
plete justification  of  the  enterprise  in  aid  of 
which  the  book  is  written . 


THE  MEMORIAL 

Fortunately,  we  have  not  been  left  in  the  dark 
concerning  Massasoit’s  personal  appearance. 
Edward  Winslow,  who  was  one  of  the  hostages 
for  his  safe  return  when  he  entered  the  settle- 
ment at  Plymouth  to  confer  with  Governor  Car- 
ver, and  who  saw  him  on  that  occasion  and  often 
thereafter  for  many  years,  who  was  his  friend, 
and  one  whom  Massasoit  loved,  has  left  us  such 
a complete  and  perfect  description  of  him  as  is 
to  be  found  of  but  few  men  of  those  remote  times; 
and  fortunately,  we  have  succeeded  in  enlisting 
the  services  of  Cyrus  E.  Dallin  of  Arlington, 
Massachusetts,  eminent  sculptor  and  portrayer 
of  Indian  character,  to  translate  Winslow’s  de- 
scription into  bronze.  Massasoit  was  forty-one 
years  old  when  he  first  appeared  to  the  Pilgrims, 
and  Mr.  Dallin  has  created  a model  of  the  proud 
warrior  in  the  prime  of  life,  bearing  the  peace 
pipe  to  the  strangers  from  across  the  great  waters. 
From  this  model  it  is  proposed  to  erect  a statue 
of  heroic  size  to  be  appropriately  mounted  on 


FOREWORD 


XI 


Cole’s  Hill,  immediately  overlooking  the  fa- 
mous rock  against  which  the  Mayflower’s  shallop 
rested  and  upon  which  its  occupants  landed  on 
December  21,  1620.  The  Pilgrim  Society  of 
Plymouth  has  offered  the  site,  and  has  volunteered 
to  assume  perpetual  care  of  the  statue  when 
erected.  And  so  we  present  our  case  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  in  an  appeal  to  them 
to  participate  in  an  enterprise,  the  purpose  of 
which  is  to  pay  deserved  but  belated  tribute  to 
this  great  Chief,  that  he  may  forever  stand  guard 
over  the  gateway  through  which  the  pilgrim 
bearers  of  the  torch  of  Liberty  first  entered  New 
England,  even  as  he  kept  a watchful  eye  over  her 
early  struggles  for  existence. 


Fall  Riveh,  Mass. 
May  10,  1919. 


A.  G.  W. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Introductory 1 

II.  Indian  Character 18 

III.  The  Algonquins 45 

TV.  The  Wampanoags 68 

V.  Massasoit 91 

VI.  Massasoit’s  Family 129 

VII.  Samoset,  Squanto  and  Hobamock  . . . 146 

VIII.  The  Narragansetts 160 

IX.  Miantonomo 178 

X.  The  Pequots,  Mohicans  and  other  West- 
ern Tribes 194 

XI.  King  Philip  and  his  Captains  ....  234 


I 


MASSASOIT  OF  THE  WAMPANOAGS 


MASS  ASOIT 


i 

INTRODUCTORY 

ALMOST  three  hundred  years  have  passed  into 
history  since  the  Pilgrim  ship  bearing  its 
precious  freight  of  human  souls  dropped  anchor  in 
Cape  Cod  Bay,  and  its  occupants  sent  out  their 
shallop  in  search  of  a suitable  place  for  landing. 
English  ships  had  visited  the  New  England  coast 
many  times  between  the  date  of  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World  by  Columbus  and  that  day;  but 
they  had  brought  only  explorers,  adventurers, 
traders  and  fishermen.  Unlike  the  long  line  of  its 
predecessors,  the  Mayflower  came  laden  with  men, 
women  and  children,  bringing  with  them  all  their 
earthly  possessions;  and,  what  was  immeasurably 
more  important,  the  Anglo-Saxon  love  of  liberty, 
which,  developed  under  the  new  conditions  they 
found  here,  has  given  us  the  boon  of  perfect  liberty 
and  equality  under  the  law,  but  not  in  contraven- 
tion of  law. 

They  had  come  to  stay.  Denied  the  right  to  wor- 
ship God  in  such  form  and  manner  as  they  saw  fit, 
persecuted  for  their  non-conformity  to  the  estab- 

1 


2 


MASSASOIT 


lished  faith,  they  had  fled  from  England  to  Hol- 
land, and  from  the  latter  country  to  the  wilderness 
peopled  only  by  natives  who  knew  nothing  of  Euro- 
pean civilization,  European  customs  or  European 
religion,  beyond  what  little  they  had  learned  from 
traders;  and  that  was  not  favorable  to  the  Euro- 
peans. 

The  century  preceding  their  coming  had  wit- 
nessed the  most  remarkable  upheavals  in  the  re- 
ligious world  of  which  history  furnishes  any  record, 
except  the  advent  of  men  who  have  promulgated  an 
entirely  new  religion  with  such  vigor  that  they 
have  succeeded  in  impressing  their  teachings  upon 
a considerable  portion  of  the  people  of  the  world. 

In  1517  Tetzel,  a Dominican  Friar,  and  the 
guardian  of  the  Franciscan  Friars  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  joint 
commissaries  for  Saxony  and  North  Germany,  to 
preach  an  indulgence  to  all  who  would  contribute  to 
the  rebuilding  of  St.  Peter’s  Church  at  Rome;  and 
while  Tetzel  was  preaching  in  the  Schlosskirche  at 
Juterbogk,  Luther  had  nailed  to  the  door  of  the 
kirche  his  ninety-five  theses,  in  which  he  chal- 
lenged Tetzel  to  a defence  of  his  position,  and  took 
an  attitude  contrary  to  the  established  order,  from 
which  he  ever  after  refused  to  recant. 

A little  later,  Henry  VIII  of  England,  in  conse- 
quence of  a quarrel  with  the  Pope  and  Cardinals 
concerning  the  dissolution  of  his  marriage  to  Cather- 
ine of  Aragon,  had  established  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land as  an  independent  ecclesiastical  body;  and 
still  later  John  Calvin,  a Frenchman,  bom  in  the 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

year  that  Henry  ascended  the  throne  of  England, 
promulgated  the  Geneva  Creed. 

All  these  things  had  set  the  leaven  of  religious 
liberty  into  a ferment  which  nearly  blew  the  lid  off 
the  mixing  pan;  and  creeds  without  number  sprang 
up,  especially  among  people  who  had  chafed  under 
the  restrictions  which  held  them  to  forms  of  wor- 
ship and  to  beliefs  established  by  others,  whom  they 
thought  no  more  capable  of  expounding  the  teach- 
ings of  the  founders  of  the  religion  they  professed 
than  were  they.  If  Luther  the  priest  could  dissent 
from  the  teachings  that  had  been  inculcated  into 
his  mind  through  a long  course  of  training  for  his 
profession;  if  the  King  of  England,  who  had  been 
a firm  adherent  of  the  established  order  of  things, 
and  had  so  ably  defended  the  prerogatives  of  the 
church  of  Rome  that  he  had  been  recognized  by  it 
as  “Defender  of  the  Faith,”  could  set  up  an  inde- 
pendent church,  what  limit  was  to  be  placed  upon 
revolts  against  theological  dogmas?  What  was  to 
prevent  the  men  who  followed  Luther,  the  English 
dissenters  and  Calvin  in  doing  their  own  thinking, 
from  doing  a little  independent  thinking  on  their 
own  account? 

At  any  rate,  this  is  just  what  happened,  with  the 
result  that  the  dissenters  from  the  dogma  of  the  first 
dissenters  found  themselves  in  just  as  uncomfort- 
able a position  as  that  in  which  those  first  protes- 
tants  against  the  established  religion  were  placed  by 
their  protestations;  for  it  is  a peculiar  characteristic 
of  the  human  mind,  that,  having  discovered  what  it 
considers  error  in  the  tenets  of  any  faith,  and  set 


4 


MASSASOIT 


up  its  own  standard,  it  at  once  becomes  intolerant 
of  any  one  who  suggests  or  even  thinks  that  he  has 
the  same  right  to  dissent  from  the  latest  standard 
established.  So  we  find  the  Church  of  England 
refusing  to  the  followers  of  Calvin  the  same  religious 
liberty  they  had  claimed  in  their  defiance  of  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

It  was  this  which  drove  the  Pilgrims  across  the 
Atlantic  in  search  of  a home  in  the  wilderness  where 
they  might  be  free  from  all  restrictions  upon  their 
religious  liberty;  and  by  the  irony  of  fate,  it  was 
this  same  working  of  the  human  mind,  this  same 
characteristic  of  which  I have  just  spoken,  that  led 
them  to  acts  of  intolerance  and  oppression  against 
men  of  other  religious  beliefs  and  the  heterodox 
members  of  their  own  congregations,  men  whose 
consciences  would  not  allow  them  to  subscribe  to  all 
the  tenets  of  the  creed  set  up  for  them.  It  was  this 
that  drove  Roger  Williams  from  Salem  to  seek  ref- 
uge first  with  Massasoit  at  Sowams,  and  later  with 
the  Narragansetts  at  the  place  which  he  devoutly 
named  Providence;  that  sent  Gorton  from  Ply- 
mouth to  the  same  Narragansett  country;  and 
John  Easton  and  a multitude  of  other  Quakers 
from  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony  to  Rhode 
Island  and  other  places. 

The  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  came  here  in 
search  of  a home  where  they  might  be  free,  but 
closed  their  doors  to  others  impelled  by  the  same 
love  of  freedom  to  flee  their  native  land,  thus  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  those  whose  persecutions  they 
themselves  had  fled.  In  this  they  were  but  fol- 


INTRODUCTORY 


5 


lowing  the  inscrutable  workings  of  the  human  mind, 
and  indirectly  and  unintentionally  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  a broader  liberty  than  they  ever  be- 
held in  their  wildest  flights  of  fancy;  for  the  very 
intolerance  which  they  displayed  but  sharpened  the 
spirit  of  resistance,  and  led  to  a more  thorough 
understanding  of  true  liberty,  the  liberty  to  pursue 
one’s  own  inclinations  until  the  pursuit  reaches  the 
bounds  of  positive  evil,  or  trespasses  upon  the  like 
liberties  of  another. 

These  reflections  are  peculiarly  applicable  to  the 
settlers  of  Southern  New  England,  because  they 
were  the  first  to  attempt  to  establish  upon  these 
shores  the  principle  of  religious  liberty  for  them- 
selves, though  denied  to  others.  The  Roman 
Catholics  in  Maryland  and  the  Quakers  in  Penn- 
sylvania but  followed  the  trail  they  blazed;  and  it 
is  in  consequence  of  these  facts  that  we  of  New 
England  claim  for  our  barren  soil  the  title  of  Birth- 
place of  the  American  Ideal,  which  if  carefully  con- 
served and  safeguarded,  will  become  the  ideal  of  the 
world.  Our  New  England  soil  may  not  be  as  pro- 
ductive as  that  of  the  plains  of  our  middle  west  or 
of  our  sunny  south;  but  the  atmosphere  of  New 
England  civil  and  religious  liberty  that  has  sur- 
rounded us  has  been  highly  productive  of  men  and 
women  who  have  left  the  impress  of  their  character 
upon  the  life  of  the  country.  In  fact,  I question 
whether  any  one  will  attempt  at  this  late  day  to 
gainsay  the  claim  so  often  made  that  December  21, 
1620,  was  the  natal  day  of  the  American  system  of 
government.  Somewhat  crude  at  its  birth  was  the 


6 


MASSASOIT 


idea  out  of  which  that  system  has  grown;  but  the 
intolerance  of  restraint  in  matters  of  thought  was 
there,  and  it  is  this  spirit  of  resistance  to  attempts  to 
limit  the  freedom  of  thought  and  action,  running 
through  all  our  colonial  history,  that  finally  devel- 
oped into  that  immortal  document,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  written,  it  is  true,  by  a lover  of 
humanity  from  fair  Virginia,  but  breathing  in  its 
every  line  the  traditions  of  New  England,  which 
had  ere  that  time  become  the  traditions  of  an  in- 
cipient nation. 

The  importance  of  that  twenty-first  day  of  De- 
cember, 1620,  and  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim 
fathers  at  Plymouth  as  an  event  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  aye  of  humanity,  cannot  be  over- 
estimated; nor  can  too  high  a valuation  be  put 
upon  all  the  agencies  that  contributed  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  venture  which  drove  them  across  the 
water.  Foremost  among  those  agencies  was  the  at- 
titude of  the  natives  towards  these  invaders  of  their 
domain.  Had  they,  in  resentment  of  their  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  white  adventurers,  explorers 
and  traders,  assumed  a hostile  attitude,  with  the 
limited  means  of  making  the  long  and  dangerous 
voyage  across  the  sea  at  that  time,  they  could  un- 
doubtedly have  wiped  out  the  colonies  as  fast  as 
they  could  have  been  planted,  and  thus  set  back 
the  history  of  our  country  for  at  least  a hundred 
years;  the  early  history  of  New  England  would 
have  been  written  in  characters  of  blood  on  every 
hillside  and  plain  instead  of  characters  of  living 
fight  for  the  illumination  of  the  world;  and  without 


INTRODUCTORY 


7 


the  history  of  New  England,  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  aye,  even  of  humanity,  would  be  a 
different  tale  from  that  we  teach  our  children  and 
read  in  the  record  of  current  events. 

The  present  moment,  with  the  statesmen  of  the 
free  nations  of  the  world  assembled  at  Versailles 
for  the  discussion  of  a means  for  securing  the  peace 
of  the  world,  seems  a peculiarly  appropriate  time 
for  calling  attention  to  the  first  peace  conference 
ever  held  on  American  soil,  in  which  the  white  race 
participated  on  equal  terms  with  the  aborigines,  of 
which  we  have  any  record;  and  its  coming,  as  it 
does,  on  the  eve  of  the  three  hundredth  anniversary 
of  that  original  conference,  adds  to  the  significance 
of  the  treaty  growing  out  of  that  conference. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  write  a history  of  the 
early  colonial  days.  Events  as  they  occurred  were 
recorded  by  men  who  participated  in  them;  and 
later  writers,  whose  name  is  legion,  drawing  their 
information  from  these  early  historians,  have  dwelt 
upon  the  facts  they  set  down,  with  all  the  embel- 
lishments capable  of  being  given  to  them  by  the 
thoughtful  mind  and  the  facile  pen.  He  who  at- 
tempts to  write  history  three  hundred  years  after 
the  happening  of  the  events  he  records,  with  no 
new  facts,  disclosed  by  research  at  sources  hitherto 
unexplored,  must  needs  possess  the  skill  to  paint  his 
narrative  in  colors  never  before  essayed,  or  content 
himself  with  being  a mere  compiler  of  facts  gathered 
and  recorded  by  others.  Unless  his  is  the  faculty  of 
saying  things  in  a more  pleasing  manner  or  of  array- 
ing his  facts  in  such  a way  that  they  will  present  a 


8 


MASSASOIT 


more  attractive  picture  than  has  been  before  por- 
trayed by  them,  his  excuse  for  writing  is  indeed 
small. 

No  new  facts  will  be  presented  by  the  narrative 
I am  undertaking,  nor  do  I lay  claim  to  any  magic 
in  the  wielding  of  the  pen  that  will  make  the  old 
appear  new.  All  that  I shall  attempt  is  to  rescue 
from  a mass  of  other  matter  in  which  they  are  so 
buried  as  to  be  almost  inaccessible  to  the  reader 
who  has  not  the  time  or  the  inclination  for  wide 
research,  certain  historic  facts,  with  a view  to  calling 
attention  to  some  of  the  errors  that  have  sprung  up 
concerning  the  aborigines  whom  our  fathers  found 
in  possession  of  this  fair  land  when  they  first  set 
foot  upon  its  shores;  to  array  those  facts,  gleaned 
from  the  writings  of  the  men  who  participated  in 
the  stirring  events  of  which  they  write,  in  such 
form  that  the  array  will  assist  in  a better  under- 
standing and  higher  appreciation  of  the  true  rela- 
tions between  the  original  possessors  of  the  land 
and  the  invading  settlers  from  the  old  world,  than 
the  average  reader  is  likely  to  gather  from  a limited 
reading  of  early  history  in  which  the  subjects  to 
which  I desire  to  call  attention  are  passed  over 
with  a word. 

Many  of  the  most  important  features  of  that 
early  history  are  almost  entirely  lost  to  the  majority 
of  readers  for  the  reasons  that  I have  suggested. 
True,  every  reader  of  American  history  knows  of 
the  struggles  of  the  early  settlers  with  hostile  bands 
of  natives,  and  of  their  privations  and  hardships  in 
every  form;  he  knows  of  the  visit  of  Samoset  to 


INTRODUCTORY 


9 


the  Pilgrims  a few  months  after  they  landed  at 
Plymouth  and  of  his  greeting,  “Welcome,  English- 
men”; he  has  heard  something  of  Squanto  and  of 
Hobamock;  but  how  much  does  he  really  know 
about  them?  And  yet,  the  part  played  by  them 
and  others  of  their  kind  in  the  early  struggles  of 
the  infant  colony,  their  faithfulness  to  their  treaty 
obligations  and  their  loyalty  and  devotion  to  those 
to  whom  they  had  thereby  bound  themselves,  form 
the  brightest  pages  in  the  annals  of  Colonial  New 
England. 

The  story  of  Canonicus  of  the  Narragansetts,  and 
his  haughty  challenge  to  the  colonists  at  Plymouth, 
sent  in  the  form  of  a bundle  of  arrows  bound  in  a 
rattlesnake’s  skin,  and  of  Governor  Bradford’s 
defiant  reply,  is  familiar  to  every  American  school- 
boy; but  how  many  know  that,  following  and 
probably  in  consequence  of  this  incident,  the  Nar- 
ragansetts were  firm  friends  of  the  whites  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  until  the  death  of  their  beloved 
sachem  Miantonomo,  the  nephew  of  Canonicus,  at 
the  hands  of  the  fierce  Uncas  of  the  Mohicans? 
Probably  every  reader  of  American  history  remem- 
bers the  story  of  that  unjustifiable  death,  and  of 
Uncas’  cutting  a slice  of  flesh  from  the  shoulder  of 
his  still  quivering  victim  and  eating  it,  declaring  it 
to  be  the  sweetest  meat  he  ever  ate;  but  how 
many  know  that  eight  commissioners  of  the  colonies 
in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  authorized  this 
cold-blooded  murder  of  one  of  the  most  faithful 
friends  the  whites  had  among  the  red  men,  and 
thereby  aroused  the  hostility  of  the  Narragansetts, 


10 


MASSASOIT 


the  most  powerful  confederation  in  New  England, 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  never  allayed  until 
the  extermination  of  that  federation  in  King  Philip’s 
war?  - • 

Every  one  knows  something  about  that  war,  but 
what  percentage  of  even  the  well  informed  men  of 
today  can  tell  you  any  of  the  causes  that  led  up  to 
it,  except  possibly,  the  land  question,  which  was 
really  the  least  of  the  causes?  How  many  know 
that  Philip,  the  so-called  “vindictive,  bloodthirsty, 
cruel  savage,”  showed  more  humanity  in  his  treat- 
ment of  whites  during  the  war  than  was  shown  by 
the  colonists  towards  their  enemies? 

Since  writing  the  foregoing  lines,  my  attention 
has  been  called  to  a matter  which  gives  added  force 
to  what  I have  said  concerning  the  general  lack  of 
information  upon  the  subject  of  which  I write. 
Within  a few  days  the  following  appeared  in  a daily 
paper  published  in  Providence. 

“Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Champlin,  a direct  descend- 
ant of  the  old  Ninigret  tribe  of  Indians  which  was 
so  prominent  in  Southern  Rhode  Island  more  than  a 
century  ago,  died  at  Westerly  yesterday.  She  was 
100  years  and  10  months  old,  having  been  bom 
just  over  the  line  in  Connecticut  on  June  23,  1818. 

“She  was  a resident  of  Westerly  all  her  life  prac- 
tically, and  was  a daughter  of  Jesse  and  Hager 
Champlin,  her  father  being  a member  of  the  Nini- 
gret tribe.” 

I am  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  history  of 
Rhode  Island  for  the  past  hundred  years  to  assert 
positively  that  there  was  not  a tribe  there  known 


INTRODUCTORY 


11 


as  the  Ninigret  Indians;  but  if  a tribe  under  that 
name  did  exist,  the  appellation  Ninigret  was  a mis- 
nomer, and  probably  was  given  to  the  remnant  of 
the  Niantic  tribe  which  followed  its  sachem  — Nini- 
gret — in  taking  sides  with  the  English  in  King 
Philip’s  war.  The  whites  may  have  given  them  the 
name  of  their  sachem  after  the  war,  meaning  thereby 
simply  Ninigret’s  Indians  or  Ninigret’s  tribe.  The 
nearest  approach  to  this  name  in  the  early  histories 
is  found  in  the  records  of  one  of  the  old  writers  who 
speaks  of  the  Eastern  Niantics  as  Ninnicrafts,  this 
also  being  the  name  sometimes  given  to  the  sachem 
Ninigret;  but  Ninigret  was  a Niantic,  and  the 
Eastern  Niantics  being  under  the  protection  of  the 
Narragansetts,  and  perhaps  closely  related  to  them, 
most  early  writers  speak  of  him  as  one  of  the  Nar- 
ragansett  sachems. 

The  news  writer  may  be  speaking  from  exact 
knowledge,  but  to  the  man  interested  in  tracing 
names  to  their  sources,  the  article  referred  to  leaves 
too  much  to  be  further  inquired  into  or  simply  in- 
ferred; and  I call  attention  to  the  matter  at  this 
time  solely  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  what  I 
have  said  on  the  subject. 

Wherever  there  is  a lack  of  knowledge  of  many 
of  these  interesting  facts,  it  is  due  simply  to  the  tend- 
ency of  the  dominant  race  to  exploit  the  deeds  of  its 
ancestors,  and  to  a perfectly  natural  impulse  on  the 
part  of  the  descendants  of  the  empire  builders  of 
three  centimes  ago  to  dwell  upon  the  courage, 
energy  and  devotion  to  principle  of  the  sturdy  men 
who  braved  the  terrors  of  the  deep  and  the  dangers 


12 


MASSASOIT 


of  an  unknown  land,  to  plant  upon  these  shores  a 
government  founded  upon  ideals  which  they  had 
developed. 

And  so,  without  attempting  to  write  history  or 
even  to  essay  the  work  of  a compiler,  the  writer  has 
prepared  the  following  brief  sketches  of  character, 
groups,  tribes,  and  men  in  such  a way  that  a care- 
ful reading  of  the  whole  will  present  a living,  mov- 
ing panorama  of  the  olden  times,  not  a complete 
picture  in  any  sense,  but  simply  a sketch,  a glimpse 
through  the  foliage  that  will  reveal  enough  to  lead 
to  a better  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  by 
the  lost  race  in  laying  the  foundations  of  our  liberty. 
If  my  effort  assists,  in  only  a small  degree,  in  se- 
curing a fair  hearing  before  the  tribunal  of  public 
opinion  for  a much  maligned  people,  I shall  feel 
that  my  labor  has  not  been  in  vain.  So  bitter  has 
been  the  arraignment  of  the  red  men  by  some  of 
the  writers  of  the  early  days,  as  well  as  by  many 
who  have  followed  them,  that  I have  not  hesitated 
to  use  language  in  characterizing  their  writings,  and 
sometimes  themselves,  that  may  appear  unneces- 
sarily harsh;  but  there  is  such  a perfectly  apparent 
spirit  of  unfairness  running  through  their  narratives 
that  they  merit  little  sympathy. 

One  thing  we  cannot  keep  too  constantly  in  mind, 
and  that  is  that  the  red  men  left  no  records.  The 
history  of  the  events  in  which  they  participated  was 
written,  for  the  most  part,  by  their  enemies;  and 
it  is  only  by  digging  up  a line  here  and  a sentence 
there,  that  one  is  enabled  to  get  together  anything 
that  will  do  justice  to  the  character  of  the  race  they 


INTRODUCTORY 


13 


exterminated,  and  then,  to  justify  their  treatment 
of  them,  attempted,  by  their  writings,  to  cover 
with  infamy. 

We  can  afford  to  approach  the  subject  without 
passion  or  prejudice;  and,  reading  between  the 
lines,  draw  our  own  conclusions  of  the  right  and  the 
wrong  of  the  struggle  for  supremacy  waged  between 
the  contending  races.  One  is  amazed  to  read  from 
the  pen  of  Schoolcraft,  who  wrote  as  late  as  1849, 
such  a sentiment  as  this  concerning  King  Philip. 
“We  may  lament  that  such  energies  were  misapplied, 
but  we  cannot  withhold  our  respect  for  the  man 
who,  though  lacking  the  motives  that  lead  Christian 
martyrs  to  the  stake  and  civilized  heroes  to  the 
‘imminent  deadly  breach/  was  yet  capable  of  com- 
bining all  the  military  strength  and  political  wis- 
dom of  his  country  and  placing  the  colonists  in 
decidedly  the  greatest  peril  through  which  they  had 
ever  passed.”  This  is  the  same  Philip  of  whom 
Major  Daniel  Gookin,  commander  of  the  Middlesex 
regiment  in  the  war,  wrote,  “he  was  a person  of  good 
understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  best  things,” 
quoted  with  apparent  approval  by  Schoolcraft. 

Just  what  motives  are  referred  to  as  leading 
“civilized  heroes”  to  the  “imminent  deadly 
breach,”  that  were  lacking  in  Philip  is  not  entirely 
clear,  unless  the  author  quoted  means  his  readers 
to  infer  that  what  is  a virtue  in  civilized  heroes  is  a 
vice  in  those  who  are  less  civilized,  or  that  the  less 
civilized  are  devoid  of  sentiment  and  incapable  of 
being  moved  by  the  law  of  self-preservation  and 
the  motive  of  defence  of  family,  home  and  native 


14 


MASSASOIT 


land.  "We  may  lament  that  such  energies  were 
misapplied.”  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  things  that 
ought  to  give  us  food  for  reflection  and  serious  re- 
gret, that  our  fathers  thought  it  necessary  by  then- 
acts  of  oppression  and  wrong,  to  drive  Philip  and  his 
followers  to  the  misapplication  of  their  energies,  in- 
stead of  turning  them  to  the  advantage  of  both 
races.  We  commend  the  “civilized  heroes”  of  all 
ages  and  of  all  nations  who  have  sprung  to  the 
“imminent  deadly  breach”  in  defence  of  all  that 
life  holds  dear;  and  the  same  historians  who  sing 
their  praises  have  illogically  devoted  their  energies 
for  more  than  two  centuries  to  an  attempt  to  palliate 
or  excuse  the  crimes  of  the  whites,  by  condemning 
the  simple  natives  who  remained  steadfast  in  the 
defence  of  the  same  principles  for  which  heroes  have 
died  since  history  began. 

Speaking  of  King  Philip’s  war  in  general,  School- 
craft continues:  “It  is  interesting  to  observe  the 
fate  of  this  people  who  were  the  object  of  so  much 
benevolent  care  after  the  passage  of  an  epoch  of 
little  less  than  two  centuries.  The  great  blow  to 
the  permanent  success  of  this  work  was  struck  by 
the  unfortunate  and  general  war  which  broke  out 
under  the  indomitable  sachem  called  Metacom, 
better  known  as  King  Philip.  He  drew  all  but  the 
Christian  converts  and  the  Mohigans  into  this 
scheme.  Even  these  were  suspected.  The  cruel- 
ties which  were  committed  during  this  war  pro- 
duced the  most  bitter  hatred  and  distrust  between 
the  parties.  The  whole  race  of  Indians  was  sus- 
pected and  from  the  advance  of  this  unwise  war  on 


INTRODUCTORY 


15 


the  part  of  the  natives,  we  must  date  the  suspicion 
and  unkind  feelings  which  were  so  prevalent  and 
which  yet  take  up  the  American  mind.” 

“Benevolent  care!”  One  knows  not  whether  to 
laugh  in  derision  or  to  weep  in  pity  at  the  utter  lack 
of  discernment  of  the  man  who  sees  “benevolent 
care”  in  systematic  robbery  and  oppression,  coupled 
with  wholesale  degradation  through  the  sale  of  rum. 
This  was  the  colonists’  “benevolent  care.” 

“ The  cruelties  which  were  committed  during  this 
war”  were  not  confined  to  the  period  of  the  war. 
They  were  begun  by  the  English  and  systematically 
carried  out  for  thirty  years  before  the  natives  saw 
the  doom  of  their  people  in  their  continuation  and 
rose  in  revolt;  and  during  the  war  the  balance  is 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  ledger  for  the  whites  to 
complain. 

“The  whole  race  of  Indians  was  suspected,”  and 
for  a long  time  before,  had  been  suspected  of  a de- 
sire to  live  in  freedom;  and  “the  suspicion  and  un- 
kind feelings  which  were  so  prevalent  and  which  yet 
take  up  the  American  mind,”  have  resulted  from  the 
reading  of  the  histories  of  prejudiced  writers  like 
Hubbard,  Mather,  Schoolcraft  and  scores  of  others, 
who,  through  prejudice,  or  a desire  to  cover  the  sins 
of  the  fathers  by  raising  such  a storm  of  slander  and 
disparagement  of  the  men  whom  they  were  bent  to 
destroy,  as  to  becloud  the  vision,  present  only  one 
side  of  the  case  and  appeal  to  their  readers  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  merits  of  the  whole  cause  from  the 
evidence  thus  adduced;  or  rather  to  accept  their 
judgment  without  looking  at  the  other  side. 


16 


MASSASOIT 


Unfortunately  for  the  memory  of  the  vanished 
race,  too  many  men  are  content  to  accept  the  dic- 
tum of  such  historians  without  question;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  fortunately  for  the  cause  of  truth,  the 
white  man  has,  perhaps  inadvertently,  allowed 
enough  to  get  into  the  records  to  enable  the  discern- 
ing and  discriminating  reader  to  reverse  the  judg- 
ment. The  modern  tendency  to  “hew  to  the  line, 
let  the  chips  fall  where  they  may,”  is  leading  to  a 
better  understanding  and  a more  favorable  con- 
sideration of  Indian  character.  A careful  analysis  of 
the  history  of  the  early  colonies  is  bound  to  result  in 
the  shattering  of  many  idols;  but  desperate  indeed 
is  the  situation  of  any  people  whose  past  and  present 
cannot  stand  the  full  glare  of  the  searchlight  of  truth. 

Our  fathers  have  builded  well,  better  perhaps 
than  they  dreamed;  upon  the  foundations  they  laid, 
their  sons  have  reared  the  superstructure  of  per- 
fect liberty  and  equality  before  the  law.  Enough  of 
credit  and  glory  attaches  to  them,  without  attempt- 
ing to  cast  a glamor  of  sanctity  about  them  and  their 
acts,  to  the  discredit  and  infamy  of  the  race  they 
conquered  and  destroyed  under  a mistaken  belief 
that  its  annihilation  was  necessary  to  make  their 
own  position  secure. 

This  book  is  not  written  for  savants.  There  is 
nothing  in  it  that  they  do  not  know,  although  they 
may  not  agree  with  some  of  the  writer’s  conclu- 
sions; but  to  the  busy  man  who  has  not  had  the 
time  or  the  inclination  to  make  the  little  side  trips 
into  the  realm  of  historical  research  that  would  en- 
able him  to  discern  what  is  true  and  what  is  false, 


INTRODUCTORY 


17 


we  extend  the  invitation  to  come  with  us  along  the 
trails  our  fathers  blazed,  to  go  back  in  fancy  over 
the  ground  they  traversed,  to  take  an  account  of  the 
conditions  they  encountered;  and  to  draw  his  own 
inferences  and  conclusions. 

If  the  perusal  of  this  series  of  little  sketches 
presents  nothing  that  has  hitherto  escaped  your  at- 
tention, let  it,  at  least,  refresh  your  recollection  of 
the  story  of  the  olden  times.  Let  it  recall  the  hard- 
ships endured  by  the  pioneers,  the  perils  they  faced 
to  plant  upon  these  new  found  shores  the  tree  of 
liberty,  and  to  nourish  and  sustain  it  in  the  early 
days  of  its  growth,  ere  it  had  attained  sufficient 
strength  to  withstand  the  blasts  of  adversity.  Let 
it  impress  upon  you  the  duty  we  owe  to  the  memory 
of  a vanished  race  to  give  it  the  full  measure  of 
credit  to  which  it  is  entitled,  as  one  of  the  agencies 
that  contributed  to  the  early  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  colonies  which  gave  us  a nation.  With- 
out the  friendship  of  that  race,  the  history  of  New 
England  would  be  written  in  different  characters 
than  it  is  today,  and  without  New  England,  what 
would  have  been  the  history  of  America? 

As  we  look  back  upon  the  past,  comparing  it  as 
it  was  with  what  it  might  have  been  but  for  the 
friendship  of  Massasoit,  and  the  beneficent  effects 
of  that  friendship,  as  a bulwark  of  protection  for 
that  feeble  band  who  laid  the  foundation  of  our  free 
institutions,  we  shudder  to  think,  “how  weak  a hand 
may  turn  the  iron  helm  of  fate”;  by  how  slender  a 
hair  the  sword  of  destiny  hangs  suspended  above 
the  heads  of  men  and  nations. 


II 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 

SO  much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the 
character  of  the  aborigines  that  the  subject 
may  be  thought  to  have  been  exhausted  long  ago; 
and  so  it  is,  except  as  individual  thought  and  indi- 
vidual analysis  of  the  various  appraisals  of  Indian 
character  may  contribute  to  a better  understanding 
of  it;  for,  notwithstanding  the  various  estimates 
that  have  been  made,  or  rather  in  consequence  of  the 
apparent  contradictions  in  them,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  compare  a few  of  them  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  the  cause  of  the  contradictions,  and  de- 
termining whether  there  is  any  real  conflict,  or  only 
an  apparent  one  resulting  from  the  changes  wrought 
by  time  and  circumstances.  No  value  would  attach 
to  such  an  attempt,  but  for  the  fact  that  we  are  too 
prone  to  form  our  opinions  from  too  limited  reading, 
in  which  we  may  see  but  one  side  of  a matter;  and 
even  if  we  have  read  both  sides,  the  way  in  which 
one  writer  has  arrayed  his  facts,  the  language  used, 
in  a word,  the  picture  he  presents,  may  make  a more 
lasting  impression  than  that  of  any  other,  and  so 
we  unconsciously  form  our  opinion  from  that  which 
has  thus  appealed  to  us  and  written  itself  upon  the 
tablets  of  our  memory  most  ineffaceably. 

18 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


19 


The  principal  difficulty  with  most  of  the  later 
portrayals  of  Indian  types  and  character  that  have 
been  presented  to  us  has  been  that  they  have 
painted  the  Indian  as  he  was  after  generations  of 
demoralizing  contact  with  the  white  man  and  his 
civilization,  demoralizing  because  first  attempts  to 
engraft  civilization  upon  the  natural  stock  inevita- 
bly result  in  the  absorption  by  the  children  of 
nature  of  all  the  evils  of  civilization  and  the  rejection 
of  the  good,  just  as  children  acquire  evil  habits  more 
readily  than  correct  ones,  even  when  most  zealously 
watched  and  guarded.  The  result  of  the  early  at- 
tempts to  teach  the  aborigines  of  this  continent  the 
arts  of  civilization  has  been  the  creation  of  a charac- 
ter so  immeasurably  worse  than  that  of  the  natives 
in  their  primitive  state  that  one  shudders  to  think 
of  the  monstrosity  that  grew  out  of  the  attempt. 
There  is  enough  of  evil  in  the  best  of  men,  and  if 
only  the  good  that  has  come  to  the  advanced  races, 
without  its  attendant  evils,  could  be  impressed  upon 
the  plastic  minds  of  men  in  their  natural  state,  thus 
leading  them  little  by  little  away  from  the  vices  of 
barbarism  without  leading  them  into  the  vices  of 
civilization,  the  history  of  the  world  would  be  written 
in  different  characters  than  it  is.  For  no  one  will 
attempt  to  gainsay  the  fact  that  the  enlightenment 
of  ages  has  resulted,  not  only  in  the  production  of 
much  that  is  of  real  value  to  the  cause  of  progress 
and  of  humanity,  but  also  of  as  much  that  has 
been  a stumbling  block  to  trip  the  unwary.  Science 
has  produced  as  much  evil  as  good,  and  yet  we 
would  not  descry  science  on  that  account,  because 


20 


MASSASOIT 


the  path  is  open  before  us  to  choose  the  good  and 
reject  the  evil  in  so  far  as  it  affects  our  own  most 
intimate  life;  so  we  would  not  destroy  the  good  be- 
cause it  is  accompanied  by  evil,  but  rather  avoid, 
and  assist  those  who  grope  in  darkness  to  avoid, 
the  pitfalls  that  science  has  dug  for  unwary  feet. 
Had  our  fathers  pursued  this  course,  much  that 
has  been  written  concerning  Indian  character  would 
not  have  found  a place  upon  the  pages  of  history. 

Francis  Parkman,  Jr.,  from  whose  writings  I shall 
have  occasion  to  quote  from  time  to  time,  although 
a man  of  painstaking  research,  and  a vivid  painter 
of  word  pictures,  seems  to  have  fallen  into  this  gen- 
eral error  of  delineating  the  character  of  the  red 
man  as  it  was  after  he  had  fallen  a victim  to  too 
many  of  the  demoralizing  vices  introduced  by  con- 
tact with  the  white  man’s  civilization,  which  have 
had  a tendency  to  exaggerate  many  of  the  charac- 
teristics to  which  Parkman  calls  attention  to  such  an 
extent  that,  in  reading  his  description,  we  are  con- 
stantly under  the  necessity  of  keeping  this  fact  in 
mind  and  of  using  it  as  a priming  knife  with  which 
to  lop  off  the  artificial  growths  and  reduce  condi- 
tions he  describes  to  their  normal  state. 

His  description,  however,  is  so  vivid  and  contains 
so  much  of  truth  as  established  by  the  incontro- 
vertible facts  disclosed  by  history,  and  such  a re- 
markable commentary  on  the  workings  of  the 
human  mind,  that  I am  taking  the  liberty  of  lifting 
it  bodily  from  the  introductory  chapter  of  his  story 
of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  making  such  comments 
as  seem  to  me  to  be  warranted;  and  asking  the 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


21 


reader  to  consider  it  in  the  light  of  the  facts  to 
which  I have  called  attention.  He  says: 

“Of  the  Indian  character  much  has  been  written 
foolishly,  and  credulously  believed.  By  the  rhap- 
sodies of  poets,  the  cant  of  sentimentalists,  and  the 
extravagance  of  some  who  should  have  known 
better,  a counterfeit  image  has  been  tricked  out, 
which  might  seek  in  vain  for  its  likeness  through 
every  corner  of  the  habitable  earth;  an  image 
bearing  no  more  resemblance  to  its  original  than  the 
monarch  of  the  tragedy  and  the  hero  of  the  epic 
poem  bear  to  their  living  prototypes  in  the  palace 
and  the  camp.  The  shadows  of  his  wilderness  home, 
and  the  darker  mantle  of  his  own  inscrutable  re- 
serve, have  made  the  Indian  warrior  a wonder  and 
a mystery.  Yet  to  the  eye  of  rational  observation, 
there  is  nothing  unintelligible  in  him.  He  is  full,  it 
is  true,  of  contradiction.  He  deems  himself  the 
centre  of  greatness  and  renown;  his  pride  is  proof 
against  the  fiercest  torments  of  fire  and  steel;  and 
yet  the  same  man  would  beg  for  a dram  of  whiskey 
or  pick  up  a crust  of  bread  thrown  to  him  like  a dog 
from  the  tent  door  of  a traveler.  At  one  moment 
he  is  wary  and  cautious  to  the  verge  of  cowardice; 
at  the  next  he  abandons  himself  to  the  very  insanity 
of  recklessness,  and  the  habitual  self-restraint  which 
throws  an  impenetrable  veil  over  emotion  is  joined 
to  the  wild,  impetuous  passions  of  a beast  or  a mad 
man.  Such  inconsistencies,  strange  as  they  seem 
in  our  eyes,  when  viewed  under  a novel  aspect, 
are  but  the  ordinary  instincts  of  humanity.  The 
qualities  of  the  mind  are  not  uniform  in  their  ac- 


22 


MASSASOIT 


tion  through  all  the  relations  of  life.  With  different 
men  and  different  races  of  men,  pride,  valor,  pru- 
dence, have  different  forms  of  manifestation,  and 
where  in  one  instance,  they  lie  dormant,  in  another 
they  are  keenly  awake.  The  conjunction  of  great- 
ness and  littleness,  meanness  and  pride,  is  older 
than  the  days  of  the  patriarchs;  and  such  anti- 
quated phenomena,  displayed  under  a new  form  in 
the  unreflecting,  undisciplined  mind  of  a savage, 
call  for  no  special  wonder,  but  should  rather  be 
classed  with  the  other  enigmas  of  the  fathomless 
heart.” 

I have  been  constrained  to  quote  thus  freely,  be- 
cause it  illustrates  what  I have  already  said  concern- 
ing the  mongrel  produced  by  crossing  the  native 
barbarism  with  the  evils  of  civilization.  Parkman 
has  given  us  in  some  respects  a perfect  picture  of  the 
child  of  the  forest;  but  in  parts  of  his  characteriza- 
tion he  has  portrayed  him  as  he  was  after  he  had 
been  robbed  of  his  lands,  driven  from  his  hunting 
grounds,  defrauded  of  his  petty  substance  and  re- 
duced to  starvation  by  the  ruthless  destroyers  of 
his  race;  his  savage  nature  rendered  a thousand 
times  more  savage  by  the  white  man’s  outrages  and 
the  white  man’s  rum.  Before  contact  with  the 
white  race  had  reduced  him  to  the  condition  de- 
scribed by  Parkman  in  some  of  these  passages,  Gos- 
nold,  Rofier  and  Smith  met  him,  and  their  testi- 
mony establishes  his  character  in  his  original  state. 

Continuing  Parkman  says:  — “Some  races  of 
men  seem  moulded  in  wax,  soft  and  melting,  at 
once  plastic  and  feeble.  Some  races,  like  some 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


23 


metals,  combine  the  greatest  flexibility  with  the 
greatest  strength.  But  the  Indian  is  hewn  out  of 
rock.  You  cannot  change  the  form  without  de- 
stroying the  substance.  He  will  not  learn  the  arts 
of  civilization  and  he  and  his  forest  must  perish 
together.”  This  was  written  in  1851,  and  the  last 
sentence  has  since  been  so  completely  refuted  by  the 
experience  of  the  past  quarter  century  that  it  almost 
leads  us  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  entire  ap- 
praisal. Some  parts  of  it  however,  so  perfectly 
accord  with  what  we  have  learned  from  other 
sources  that  we  may  safely  accept  the  whole,  mak- 
ing due  allowance  for  what  are  simply  conclusions, 
and  for  the  demoralizing  effects  of  the  agencies  to 
which  I have  already  called  attention. 

In  conclusion  Parkman  says,  “He  has  a hand 
bountiful  to  bestow  as  it  is  rapacious  to  seize,  and 
even  in  extremest  famine,  imparting  its  last  morsel 
to  a fellow  sufferer,  a heart  which,  strong  in  friend- 
ship as  in  hate,  thinks  it  not  too  much  to  lay  down 
life  for  its  chosen  comrade;  a soul  true  to  its  own 
idea  of  honor,  and  burning  with  an  unquenchable 
thirst  for  greatness  and  renown.”  All  of  which 
leads  us  back  to  his  reflection  that  these  are  “but 
the  ordinary  instincts  of  humanity,”  and  “should 
be  classed  with  the  other  enigmas  of  the  fathomless 
heart.” 

Far  out  on  the  western  plains  or  in  the  foot  hills 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  during  the  life  and  death 
struggle  between  the  ever  receding  wave  of  red 
men  and  the  restless  ever  advancing  wave  of  invad- 
ing whites,  originated  a saying  which  has  been  so 


24 


MASSASOIT 


often  repeated  that  most  of  us  have  come  to  accept 
it  as  a truism,  without  stopping  to  consider  all  the 
facts  that  have  contributed  to  the  condition  which 
gave  rise  to  the  expression.  “There  is  no  good  In- 
dian but  a dead  Indian,”  said  some  one  of  the  men 
who  had  been  sent  either  to  quell  some  uprising 
among  the  natives,  or  to  remove  them  from  the 
lands  their  fathers  had  hunted  and  fished  for  genera- 
tions, or  that  had  been  allotted  to  them  at  some 
earlier  period  when  the  cupidity  of  the  whites, 
coveting  their  former  abode,  even  as  they  now 
coveted  the  later,  impelled  them  to  press  the  red 
skins  farther  and  farther  towards  the  setting  sun. 
Error,  oft  repeated,  sometimes  assumes  the  appear- 
ance of  truth,  and  acts  of  cruelty  often  lent  color  to 
the  maxim.  Before  accepting  this  judgment  as 
final,  however,  it  will  be  well  to  look  into  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  race;  compare  them  with  other 
races  that  have  not  attained  the  topmost  round  of 
the  ladder  of  civilization  and  consider  the  treatment 
accorded  them  by  the  whites.  In  this  way,  and 
only  in  this  way,  will  we  be  able  to  determine 
whether  the  author  of  the  expression  has  made  an 
accurate  appraisal  of  the  Indian  character.  If  we 
look  upon  the  Indian  as  a child,  and  regard  that 
child  as  a good  child  or  otherwise  in  proportion  to 
his  promptness  in  doing  as  he  is  told,  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult to  deny  the  truth  of  the  saying.  If  by  good 
Indian,  we  mean  the  Indian  who  is  willing  to  sub- 
mit to  every  indignity  and  insult  that  the  ingenuity 
of  civilization  can  devise,  who  will  permit  himself 
to  be  kicked  from  pillar  to  post  without  protesting 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


25 


in  the  most  forcible  manner  known  to  him,  who  is 
willing  to  give  up  to  others  the  lands  of  his  fathers, 
who  kisses  the  hand  that  smites  him,  and  grovels 
in  the  dust  before  the  people  who  would  rob  him 
and  reduce  him  to  virtual  slavery,  it  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  gainsay  the  maxim;  and,  by  the  same 
standard,  there  is  no  good  man,  whether  his  skin 
be  red,  or  white,  black,  brown  or  yellow,  but  a dead 
man,  for  a careful  study  of  history  inevitably  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  human  nature  is  very  much 
the  same  regardless  of  the  color  of  a man’s  skin; 
and  that  any  man  with  red  blood  in  his  veins  will 
fight  with  such  weapons  as  he  possesses,  and  accord- 
ing to  his  fight,  for  much  the  same  ideals,  foremost 
among  which  is  the  protection  of  his  home  and 
family  and  the  graves  of  his  fathers,  for 

“ How  can  man  die  better  than  facing  fearful  odds 
For  the  ashes  of  his  fathers  and  the  temples  of  his  gods, 
And  for  the  tender  mother  that  dawdled  him  to  rest, 

And  the  gentle  wife  that  fondles  his  children  to  her 
breast  ? ” 

To  form  a correct  estimate  of  Indian  character, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  look  into  their  fife  before  it 
had  been  influenced  by  contact  with  the  whites,  and 
to  inquire  how  their  life  and  character  have  been 
affected  by  that  contact. 

Every  student  of  American  history  knows  of  the 
reception  of  Columbus  by  the  untutored  children  of 
the  islands,  and  of  the  homage  they  paid  to  the 
wonderful  strangers  who  had  come  from  the  land  of 
the  rising  sun  in  great  canoes  with  the  wings  of  a 
bird;  of  the  courtesy  and  kindness  of  the  natives 


26 


MASSASOIT 


to  them,  the  treasures  they  freely  bestowed  upon 
them;  and  of  the  way  in  which  the  whites  repaid 
their  courtesy  and  kindness,  by  seizing  their  people 
and  carrying  them  unwilling  captives  to  Spain. 
This  same  kindness  and  courtesy  were  extended  to 
nearly  all  the  early  explorers,  and  repaid  in  nearly 
all  instances  in  the  same  way.  Following  the  ex- 
ample of  Columbus,  and  the  early  Spanish  explorers, 
John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1497  seized  and  carried 
away  three  natives  to  be  exhibited  as  curiosities  at 
the  court  of  Henry  VII.  Caspar  Cortereal,  a Por- 
tuguese navigator,  in  1500  captured  a number  and 
sold  them  into  slavery.  These  are  only  two  con- 
crete examples  of  what  was  undoubtedly  the  general 
practice  among  the  adventurers  who  crossed  the 
ocean  in  those  early  days  in  search  of  the  treasures 
of  the  Indies.  In  spite  of  this,  Bartholomew  Gos- 
nold  in  1602,  after  more  than  a century  of  such  out- 
rages, says  of  them,  “These  people  are  exceeding 
courteous,  gentle  of  disposition,  and  well  condi- 
tioned.” In  1605,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  was 
at  that  time  the  commander  of  the  Port  of  Ply- 
mouth, England,  sent  Captain  George  Waymouth 
to  the  New  England  coast  on  a trading  expedition. 
There  is  some  disagreement  among  historians  as  to 
the  exact  place  of  the  episode  of  which  James 
Rofier,  a member  of  his  crew,  and  apparently  the 
official  secretary  of  the  expedition,  wrote,  some 
placing  it  in  the  Narragansett  country  and  others 
at  Pemaquid  on  the  Maine  coast.  Rofier  writes, 
“When  we  came  on  shore,  they  most  kindly  enter- 
tained us,  taking  us  by  the  hand  and  brought  us  to 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


27 


sit  down  by  their  fire;  they  filled  their  pipes  and 
gave  us  of  their  excellent  tobacco  as  much  as  we 
would.”  This  kind  entertainment  was  repaid  as  re- 
lated by  Rofier  in  a communication  dated  June  14, 
1605.  “About  eight  o’clock  this  day,  we  went  on 
shore  with  our  boats  to  fetch  aboard  water  and  wood. 
Our  captain,  leaving  word  with  the  gunner  in  the 
ship,  by  discharging  a musket,  to  give  notice  if  they 
espied  any  canoe  coming  and  which  they  did  about 
ten  o’clock.  He  therefore,  being  careful  they  should 
be  kindly  treated,  requested  me  to  go  aboard,  in- 
tending with  dispatch  to  make  what  haste  after  he 
possibly  could.  When  I came  to  the  ship,  there 
were  two  canoes  and  in  either  of  them  three  savages, 
of  whom  two  were  below  at  the  fire;  the  others 
seated  in  their  canoes  about  the  ship,  and  because 
we  could  not  entice  them  aboard,  we  gave  them  a 
can  of  peas  and  bread,  which  they  carried  to  the 
shore  to  eat;  but  one  of  them  brought  back  our  can 
presently  and  staid  aboard  with  the  other  two;  for 
he  being  young  of  a ready  capacity,  and  one  we 
most  desired  to  bring  with  us  into  England  had 
received  exceeding  kind  usage  at  our  hands  and  was 
therefore  much  delighted  in  our  company.  When 
our  captain  was  come,  we  consulted  how  to  catch 
the  other  three  at  shore,  which  we  performed  thus: 
we  manned  the  Lighthorseman  [[boat]  with  seven  or 
eight  men;  one,  standing  before,  carried  our  box  of 
merchandise  as  we  were  wont  when  I went  to 
traffic  with  them,  and  a platter  of  peas,  which  meat 
they  loved,  but  before  we  were  landed  one  of  them 
(being  so  suspiciously  fearful  of  his  own  good)  with- 


28 


MASSASOIT 


drew  himself  into  the  wood.  The  other  two  met  us 
on  the  shore  side  to  receive  the  peas,  with  which  we 
went  up  the  cliff  to  their  fire  and  sat  down  with 
them;  and  while  we  were  discussing  how  to  catch 
the  third  man  who  was  gone,  I opened  the  box  and 
showed  them  trifles  to  exchange,  thinking  thereby 
to  have  banished  fear  from  the  other,  and  drawn 
him  to  return;  but  when  we  could  not,  we  used 
little  delay  but  suddenly  laid  hands  upon  them  and 
it  was  as  much  as  five  or  six  of  us  could  do  to  get 
them  into  the  Lighthorseman ; for  they  were  strong, 
and  so  naked  as  our  best  hold  was  by  their  long  hair 
on  their  heads;  and  we  would  have  been  very  loth 
to  have  done  them  any  hurt,  which  of  necessity  we 
had  been  constrained  to  have  done  if  we  had  at- 
tempted them  in  a multitude;  which  we  must  and 
would  rather  than  have  wanted  them,  being  a matter 
of  great  importance  for  the  full  accomplishment  of 
our  voyage.” 

Among  these  five  was  Tahanedo,  a Sagamore. 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  writes  of  them  that  when 
they  landed  at  Plymouth,  England,  he  seized  them 
and,  further,  that  they  were  all  of  one  nation  but 
of  several  parts  and  several  families,  and  concludes, 
“This  accident  must  be  acknowledged  the  means, 
under  God,  of  putting  on  foot  and  giving  fife  to  all 
our  plantations;  and  having  kept  them  fully  three 
years,  I made  them  able  to  set  me  down  what  great 
rivers  run  up  into  the  land,  what  men  of  note  were 
seated  on  them,  of  what  power  they  were,  how 
allied,  and  what  enemies  they  had.” 

The  reason  given  for  this  kidnapping  of  the 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


29 


natives  by  Waymouth  was,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
making  slaves  of  them,  but  to  treat  them  kindly 
and  thus  induce  them  to  give  his  employers  informa- 
tion concerning  the  country  that  could  not  other- 
wise be  obtained  — a fine  distinction  in  the  view  of 
our  modern  ideas  of  slavery.  They  were  to  be  held 
for  a long  period  of  time  against  their  will,  to  per- 
form service  for  the  men  by  whom  they  were  held, 
but  not  as  slaves. 

It  appears  that  in  1606,  two  of  these  captives 
were  sent  out  with  Captain  Henry  Challons  on  a 
trading  expedition,  but  Challons  and  the  natives  were 
captured  by  the  Spaniards.  How  long  they  were 
held  does  not  appear,  but  they  are  both  known  to 
have  returned  to  England  at  a later  date. 

In  1611,  another  of  Gorges’  captains,  Edward 
Harlow,  seized  three  natives  at  “Monhigon”  Is- 
land. One  of  them  got  away  and,  gathering  a 
number  of  others  with  him,  he  made  a demonstra- 
tion against  the  ship  and  cut  loose  a boat  which  they 
took  to  the  shore,  and  which  the  ship’s  crew  were 
unable  to  retake.  Harlow  then  went  south  as  far 
as  “Capoge”  (undoubtedly  Martha’s  Vineyard). 
My  reason  for  saying  undoubtedly  Martha’s  Vine- 
yard is  the  similarity  between  this  name  and  one  of 
the  Indian  names  of  that  island,  Capawack,  and  the 
further  fact  that  the  name  of  one  of  the  men  whom 
he  seized  there  is  identical  with  that  of  the  sachem  of 
that  island  in  1621.  At  Capoge,  Harlow  seized  two 
Indians  named  Coneconam  and  Epenow,  and  at 
Nohono,  he  seized  another  named  Sakaweston. 
With  these  five  he  returned  to  England. 


30 


MASSASOIT 


In  1614  still  another  of  Gorges’  captains  named 
Hobson,  on  an  expedition  to  the  New  England  coast 
brought  back  Epenow  with  him.  It  is  related  that 
when  he  arrived  in  his  native  country,  Epenow  con- 
spired with  some  of  his  friends  to  effect  his  escape, 
and  that  they  came  to  rescue  him  with  twenty 
canoes;  that  Epenow  slipped  from  the  ship,  and  his 
friends  in  the  canoes  let  fly  such  a shower  of  arrows 
upon  and  about  the  ship  that  its  crew  were  unable 
to  retake  him. 

In  1619,  Captain  Thomas  Dermer,  another  of 
Gorges’  captains,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  the 
New  England  coast,  met  Epenow,  who  told  him  of 
his  escape.  Epenow  learned  from  him  that  he  was 
in  Gorges’  service  and  made  inquiry  about  him,  but 
probably  believing  that  Dermer  had  been  sent  to 
recapture  him  and  take  him  back  to  England,  he 
gathered  a number  of  his  people  and  attacked  Der- 
mer, apparently  with  the  intent  to  take  him  prisoner; 
“but  he  being  a brave  stout  gentleman,”  drew  his 
sword  and  freed  himself  from  them,  though  not  with- 
out much  difficulty,  as  it  is  related  that  he  received 
fourteen  wounds  in  the  encounter,  of  so  serious  a 
nature  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Virginia  to  have 
them  attended  to. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  visit  that  Dermer 
learned  of  another  outrage  perpetrated  by  the 
whites  upon  the  natives.  In  a letter  dated  June  20, 
1620,  he  writes  that  the  Pokanokets  “bear  an  in- 
veterate malice  to  the  English”;  and  that  this 
enmity  was  “aroused  by  an  Englishman,  who  had 
many  of  them  on  board,  and  made  a great  slaughter 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


31 


with  their  murderers  [small  cannon  or  mortars]  and 
small  shot,  when,  as  they  say,  they  offered  no  in- 
jury.” Dermer  doubts  whether  these  were  English 
or  French,  who,  as  Winslow  learned  on  the  occasion 
of  his  visit  to  So  warns  in  1621,  did  much  fishing  in 
Narragansett  Bay.  Whether  English  or  French  is 
not  of  much  consequence.  They  were  whites,  and 
their  act  would  naturally  arouse  the  ire  of  the  out- 
raged natives  against  the  white  race.  From  our 
knowledge  of  the  treatment  of  the  natives  by  the 
French  as  compared  with  that  of  the  English,  how- 
ever, we  are  safe  in  concluding  that  Dermer  had 
very  little  reason  for  the  doubt.  This  was  another 
chapter  in  the  history  of  malicious  treatment  of  the 
Indians  which  would  never  have  seen  the  fight  of 
day  but  for  this  letter  of  Captain  Dermer. 

In  this  connection,  the  fact  that  this  attack  was 
made  upon  the  people  of  the  same  Great  Sachem 
who  less  than  a year  after  the  letter  was  written  and 
probably  within  seven  or  eight  years  of  the  time  of 
the  outrage  of  which  Dermer  writes,  trailed  forty 
miles  to  Plymouth  to  extend  to  the  Pilgrims  the 
olive  branch  of  peace,  is  worth  a word  of  comment 
in  passing. 

In  1614  Captain  John  Smith  with  a fleet  of  trad- 
ing vessels  visited  the  new  world  and  skirted  the 
shores  of  New  England  from  the  Penobscot  to  and 
around  Cape  Cod.  From  his  observations  made  on 
this  occasion,  he  drafted  a map  of  the  coast,  a copy 
of  which  appears  in  Governor  William  Bradford’s 
history  of  Plymouth  Colony,  as  published  by 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  This  map, 


32 


MASSASOIT 


though  not  without  its  inaccuracies,  shows  such 
familiarity  with  the  coast  that  it  inevitably  leads  to 
the  conclusion  that  Smith  must  have  made  a careful 
study  of  the  topography  of  the  shore;  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  he  made  very  many  landings 
all  along  this  coast.  If  this  is  true,  what  he  says 
concerning  Indian  traits  must  be  taken  as  applying 
generally,  and  not  to  any  particular  tribe  or  to  those 
of  any  special  locality.  Captain  Smith,  writing  of 
the  natives  at  that  time,  says  “they  were  silly 
savages,”  and  “they  were  very  kind,  but  in  their 
fury  no  less  valiant,  for  upon  a quarrel  we  had  with 
one  of  them,  he  only  with  three  others,  crossed  the 
harbor  of  Quonahassit  [Cohasset]  to  certain  rocks 
whereby  we  had  to  pass,  and  there  let  fly  their 
arrows  for  our  shot.”  As  Smith  proceeded  down 
the  bay  “upon  small  occasion,”  as  he  writes,  further 
difficulty  arose,  some  forty  or  fifty  Indians  attacking 
the  English.  The  exact  place  of  this  encounter  is 
not  given,  but  it  was  either  in  the  territory  of  the 
Massachusetts  or  that  of  the  Wampanoags.  It  is 
recorded  that  on  this  occasion  the  English  fired  upon 
the  natives,  killing  one  and  wounding  another  with 
a shot  through  the  thigh;  and  yet  we  are  told  on  no 
less  an  authority  than  that  of  Smith  himself,  that  in 
an  hour  after  the  encounter,  they  made  up  and  were 
friends  again.  It  was  on  this  voyage  that  Captain 
Smith,  sailing  from  the  coast  of  New  England  for 
Virginia,  left  one  of  his  vessels,  under  command  of 
Captain  Thomas  Hunt,  in  Cape  Cod  Bay,  to  com- 
plete the  loading  of  his  ship  with  fish,  furs  and  oil. 
Captain  Hunt,  relieved  of  the  restraint  of  his  su- 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


33 


perior,  completed  his  cargo,  and  then  to  his  eternal 
infamy,  enticed  twenty-seven  natives  on  board,  and 
sailed  away  with  them  to  Malaga  where  he  sold 
them  into  slavery.  These  twenty-seven  were  made 
up  of  twenty  Patuxets  and  seven  Nausets,  among 
the  former  of  whom  was  Squanto,  about  whom  we 
shall  see  more  hereafter,  as  well  as  of  the  fate  of 
the  others. 

The  purpose  of  introducing  these  narratives  briefly 
in  this  place  has  been  to  throw  such  light  as  they 
afford  upon  the  character  of  the  aborigines  as  they 
were  first  seen  by  the  bold  explorers  and  traders 
from  Europe.  I have  quoted  freely  from  the  writ- 
ings of  the  men  who  mingled  with  them  after  the 
acts  of  violence  to  which  I have  called  attention, 
some  of  which  occurred  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Indians  whose  kindly  traits  were  so  clearly 
manifested,  or  in  such  close  proximity  to  them  that 
knowledge  of  the  outrages  on  the  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish must  have  reached  the  men  who  still  received 
them  with  open  arms,  and  appeared  desirous  of 
maintaining  friendly  relations  with  them,  and  of 
bartering  their  valuable  furs  for  such  trinkets  and 
baubles  as  appealed  to  their  native  simplicity.  The 
testimony  of  all  these  men  is  to  the  same  effect,  and 
establishes  beyond  peradventure  the  fact  that  they 
were  kind,  courteous,  hospitable  and  of  gentle  dis- 
position. “Silly  savages”  they  may  have  been,  in 
the  sense  that  they  knew  not  the  value  of  what 
they  gave,  measured  by  the  standard  of  what  their 
received,  unskilled  in  the  arts  of  commerce,  but  not 
the  treacherous  and  blood-thirsty  fiends  that  their 


34 


MASSASOIT 


descendants  have  been  painted;  not  entirely  with- 
out cause  it  must  be  admitted,  but,  what  is  the 
cause? 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  training  for  war  was 
looked  upon  as  the  most  important  part  of  the  edu- 
cation of  the  Indian  youth,  and  that  wars  between 
the  tribes  were  waged  altogether  too  frequently  and 
without  what  would  be  considered  justifiable  cause 
among  civilized  peoples;  and  no  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  to  controvert  the  charge  so  often  made 
that  unnecessary  cruelties  were  indulged  in  by  the 
warring  nations.  I shall  not  attempt  to  justify 
burning  prisoners  at  the  stake  or  the  practice  of  re- 
moving a portion  of  a war  victim’s  scalp  as  a trophy 
of  the  conflict;  but  will  content  myself  by  simply 
calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  all  human  progress 
has  been  by  slow  stages  and  that,  as  nations  have 
climbed  the  ladder  of  civilization  round  by  round, 
they  have,  with  each  successive  upward  movement, 
shaken  off  some  of  the  practices  of  the  lower  life  in 
which  their  fathers  had  indulged ; but  that  this  climb- 
ing has  been  going  on  through  countless  ages,  and 
that  the  conduct  of  each  succeeding  generation  has 
been  according  to  its  fight.  Old  customs  die  hard, 
and  it  is  much  easier  to  walk  in  the  trodden  path 
than  to  blaze  new  trails.  The  primitive  red  men 
who  occupied  the  land  at  the  time  of  its  discovery 
by  Europeans  had  made  comparatively  little  prog- 
ress along  the  path  of  civilization,  though  they 
were  not  the  totally  benighted  children  of  evil  that 
some  would  have  us  believe.  They  still  lived,  for 
the  most  part,  by  hunting  and  fishing,  and  the  num- 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


35 


ber  of  people  who  can  subsist  in  this  way  upon  any 
given  territory  is  necessarily  limited  by  the  natural 
increase  in  the  game  and  fish.  They  had  no  domes- 
tic animals,  and  for  meat  depended  upon  the  hunt. 
They  were,  therefore,  extremely  zealous  in  guarding 
the  boundaries  of  their  hunting  grounds  to  protect 
them  against  trepasses  by  the  occupants  of  neigh- 
boring localities;  and  any  serious  invasion  of  their 
territory  which  resulted  in  the  taking  of  the  game 
which  meant  life  or  death  to  them  was  a most  seri- 
ous offence,  and  one  that  was  almost  certain  to  re- 
sult in  war.  And  these  wars  were  frequently  waged 
to  the  complete  extermination  or  subjugation  of  one 
of  the  contending  parties.  This  was  not  necessarily 
the  result  of  any  inherent  cruelty  or  love  of  killing 
one’s  enemies  merely  for  the  sake  of  killing,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  so  reducing  them  as  to  make  further 
acts  of  violence  either  to  the  persons  of  the  con- 
querors or  against  their  hunting  grounds  a matter 
of  the  remotest  possible  chance;  as  well  as  to  make 
of  them  an  example  that  would  strike  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  other  possible  trespassers.  They  had  not 
made  the  progress  that  enabled  them  to  discard,  in 
their  treatment  of  their  slain  or  captured  enemies, 
the  practices  they  had  learned  from  their  fathers; 
although  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  had  ameliorated 
the  conditions  of  warfare  to  some  considerable  ex- 
tent since  the  beginning  of  their  history.  They 
simply  lived  according  to  the  fight  the  Great  Spirit 
had  vouchsafed  them,  and,  if  left  to  themselves, 
might,  by  the  long  and  tedious  process  of  racial 
evolution,  have  developed  a civilization  which  would 


36 


MASSASOIT 


compare  favorably  with  that  of  the  nations  of  the 
old  world.  It  has  been  said  of  them  that  they 
never  forgave  an  injury  or  forgot  a benefit.  Too 
many  of  their  critics,  in  considering  their  character, 
forget  the  last  part  of  this  saying.  But,  taking  the 
testimony  of  the  men  who  mingled  freely  with  them 
as  establishing  the  characteristics  to  which  I have 
alluded,  how  shall  we  account  for  the  atrocities  per- 
petrated upon  the  whites  by  the  sons  of  the  men 
whom  Gosnold,  Rofier  and  Smith  describe?  Per- 
haps the  first  intimation  of  one  great  cause  is  to  be 
found  in  Governor  Bradford’s  account  of  the  enter- 
tainment of  Samoset  at  Plymouth  on  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  of  March,  1621.  Samoset  came 
from  Monhegan,  the  island  from  which  Harlow 
carried  away  two  natives  in  1611,  and  probably  in 
close  proximity  to  the  place  of  Captain  Waymouth’s 
adventure  a few  years  before.  Monhegan  was  one 
of  the  noted  Indian  fishing  places  and  was  frequently 
resorted  to  by  English  visitors  to  these  parts  before 
and  after  the  times  referred  to.  It  was  in  fact  the 
site  of  one  of  the  earliest  English  attempts  at  colo- 
nization in  New  England.  Samoset  had  mingled 
with  the  English  voyagers  sufficiently  to  pick  up  a 
few  words  of  their  language  and  apparently  had  ac- 
quired a taste  for  English  beer,  for  Bradford  tells  us 
that  he  asked  for  that  beverage  on  the  occasion  of 
his  first  entertainment  at  Plymouth,  and  was  given 
“strong  water.”  Ah!  There  is  one  answer  to  the 
degradation  of  the  “silly  savages.”  “Strong  water.” 
The  Indian’s  “fire  water,”  first  supplied  to  them  by 
the  whites,  whether  for  the  purpose  of  so  benumb- 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


37 


ing  their  senses  that  they  would  lose  what  little  cun- 
ning they  had  in  trading  or  of  creating  an  appetite 
so  insatiable  that  they  would  barter  the  fruits  of  the 
hunt  for  an  exhilarating  draught  of  the  beverage, 
we  can  only  conjecture,  but  we  have  seen  so  much 
of  its  effects  upon  man  that  it  is  not  difficult  to 
hazard  an  inference  concerning  the  result.  We  have 
seen  men  spend  the  price  of  their  children’s  food  to 
obtain  it;  we  have  seen  the  mother  under  its  in- 
fluence desert  her  offspring;  the  son  curse  the 
mother  that  gave  him  birth;  and  raise  his  hand 
against  the  father  who  guided  his  first  tottering 
steps  in  infancy.  We  have  seen  it  transform  the 
mild  and  kindly  disposition  into  the  fury  of  a 
demon;  and  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  picture  the 
change  that  would  be  wrought  in  the  simple  natives, 
the  “silly  savages,”  by  its  insidious  influence.  Add 
to  this  the  treatment  they  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  whites,  and  the  story  is  complete.  Their  hos- 
pitality and  kindness  repaid  by  violence,  captivity 
and  slavery;  their  hunting  grounds  given  over  to 
the  axe  and  the  plow ; their  means  of  securing  a live- 
lihood constantly  diminished  by  these  encroach- 
ments upon  the  lands  they  had  inherited  from  their 
fathers.  What  more  is  needed  to  efface  whatever 
progress  a thousand  years  had  seen,  to  arouse  and 
intensify  all  the  old  savage  instincts  that  more  care- 
ful consideration  and  kindly  treatment  might  have 
obliterated?  Instead  of  taking  careful  account  of 
the  slumbering  demon  within  them  and  repaying 
kindness  with  kindness,  the  whites  hurled  among 
them  the  firebrand  of  robbery,  causeless  slaughter, 


38 


MASSASOIT 


slavery  and  outrage;  and,  because  the  wrongs  of  a 
hundred  years  coupled  with  the  white  man’s  rum 
transformed  the  “silly  savage,”  kind,  courteous 
and  hospitable,  into  the  blood-thirsty  red  skin  of  the 
period  beginning  with  the  death  of  Miantonomo  and 
terminating  only  with  the  complete  subjugation  of 
the  race  on  the  western  plains  and  in  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  the  Cordilleras,  we  are  told  that 
“There  is  no  good  Indian  but  a dead  Indian.” 

The  red  man  has  been  called  blood-thirsty,  cruel, 
vindictive,  false  and  treacherous,  these  being  pro- 
nounced by  some  writers  the  predominating  traits 
of  the  character  of  the  race.  There  is  much  in  their 
dealings  with  each  other  and  with  the  whites  to  sub- 
stantiate the  charge;  but  before  passing  judgment 
on  his  race,  let  us  look  at  him  in  comparison  with 
the  men  against  whom  he  stood  for  the  defence  of 
his  native  land;  and  then  “let  him  that  is  without 
sin  first  cast  a stone.”  Let  torture  stand  as  the 
test  of  cruelty;  and,  in  torture,  the  Mohican  allies 
of  the  Colonists  were  the  past  masters  among  the 
New  England  Indians.  Take  the  most  cruel  case 
recorded  in  history  to  establish  the  charge,  the  case 
related  by  an  early  historian.  Among  the  prisoners 
captured  by  Major  Talcott  of  Connecticut  was  a 
young  Narragansett,  who  had  been  taken  by  some 
of  the  Mohicans;  and  they  asked  permission  to  put 
him  to  death  by  torture.  Hubbard  tells  us  this 
was  exceedingly  painful  for  the  English,  and  then 
proceeds  to  say  that  one  of  the  reasons  for  granting 
the  permission  was  “that  they  might  have  an  ocular 
demonstration  of  the  savage,  barbarous  cruelties  of 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


39 


these  heathen”;  who,  by  the  way,  were  their  allies, 
and  whose  cruelties  they  sanctioned,  knowing  them 
to  be  the  most  cruel  and  savage  of  the  natives. 
The  other  reason  for  granting  the  permission  was, 
“lest  by  a denial  they  might  disoblige  their  Indian 
friends.”  Now  read  Hubbard’s  description  of  what 
occurred. 

“The  Narragansett  boasted  that  he  had  killed 
nineteen  Englishmen  and  had  loaded  his  gun  for 
the  twentieth,  but  not  finding  one,  he  had  shot  a 
Mohegan  rather  than  lose  a good  shot.”  His  tor- 
mentors “made  a great  circle  and  placed  him  in  the 
middle  so  that  all  eyes  might  at  the  same  time  be 
pleased  with  the  utmost  revenge  upon  him.  They 
first  cut  one  of  his  fingers  round  in  the  joint  at  the 
trunck  of  the  hand  with  a sharp  knife  and  then 
brake  it  off;  then  they  cut  off  another  and  another 
until  they  had  dismembered  one  hand  of  all  its 
digits,  the  blood  sometimes  spurting  out  in  streams 
a yard  from  his  hands,  which  barbarous  unheard  of 
cruelties,  the  English  were  not  able  to  bear,  it  forc- 
ing tears  from  their  eyes.  Yet  did  not  the  sufferer 
ever  relent  or  show  any  sign  of  anguish,  for  being 
asked  by  some  of  his  tormentors  how  he  liked 
the  war,  this  insensible  and  hard-hearted  monster 
answered  he  liked  it  very  well  and  found  it  as 
sweet  as  Englishmen  did  their  sugar.  In  this  frame 
he  continued  until  his  executioners  had  dealt  with 
the  toes  of  his  feet  as  they  had  done  with  the  fingers 
of  his  hands,  all  the  while  making  himself  dance 
around  the  circle  and  sing,  until  he  wearied  both 
himself  and  them.  At  last  they  brake  the  bones  of 


40 


MASSASOIT 


his  legs,  for  which  he  was  forced  to  sat  down,  which 
it  is  said  he  silently  did,  till  they  had  knocked  out 
his  brains.” 

For  the  highest  refinement  in  cruelty  commend 
me  to  this,  permitted,  countenanced,  encouraged 
and  witnessed  by  the  whites,  professed  followers  of 
Him  who  walked  in  Galilee,  teaching  peace  and 
good  will  to  men.  Cruel  on  the  part  of  the  Mo- 
hicans! Certainly!  Humane  on  the  part  of  the 
English?  There  was  not  a Wampanoag,  a Narra- 
gansett  or  a Nipmuck  fighting  under  Metacomet, 
who  would  not  have  dashed  into  the  circle  and 
despatched  the  sufferer  with  one  blow  of  the  toma- 
hawk before  the  completion  of  this  orgy  of  cruelty; 
yet  the  Christian  English  saw  it  through.  Search 
the  annals  of  that  war  as  written  by  white  men,  and 
you  will  search  in  vain  for  such  an  atrocity  on  the 
part  of  their  enemies. 

Indiscriminate  slaughter  is  evidence  of  blood- 
thirstiness, and  the  entire  history  of  the  war  is  a 
history  of  indiscriminate  slaughter.  It  was  a war 
of  extermination.  Settlements  were  destroyed,  men, 
women  and  children  sharing  the  same  fate.  At 
Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  during  the  swamp  fight, 
the  whites  set  fire  to  every  habitable  hut  or  tepee 
and  burned  hundreds  of  women  and  children. 

When  Awashonk,  the  squaw  sachem  of  the  Sa- 
konnets,  and  her  devoted  band  were  surrounded, 
the  entire  remnant  of  the  tribe  numbering  ninety- 
six  were  killed.  When  Tuspaquin,  the  “Black 
Sachem”  of  Assawamsett,  gave  himself  up  on  the 
promise  of  a captaincy  under  Church,  the  first  thing 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


41 


that  was  done  was  to  confront  him  with  a firing 
squad  to  see  if  he  was  bullet  proof,  the  pretense 
being  that  this  was  the  condition  on  which  the 
promise  depended  — a condition  undoubtedly  added 
after  he  had  surrendered,  for  no  one  ever  accused 
Tuspaquin  of  being  so  devoid  of  reason  as  to  volun- 
tarily give  himself  up  on  a promise  with  such  a 
string  as  that  attached  to  it. 

They  were  vindictive,  in  the  words  of  the  men 
who  exposed  the  head  of  Weetamo,  the  squaw  sa- 
chem of  Pocasset,  on  a pole  at  Taunton;  who 
divided  with  the  Mohicans,  Niantics  and  Pequots 
the  “glory  of  destroying  so  great  a prince”  as 
Canonchet,  one  shooting  him,  another  cutting  off 
his  head  and  quartering  his  body  and  another  burn- 
ing the  quarters.  They  -were  vindictive  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  men  who  exposed  the  head 
of  Philip  on  a pole  at  Plymouth  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  after  quartering  his  body  and  hanging 
the  quarters  in  the  trees  where  he  fell;  and  who  sold 
his  wife  and  child  (the  grandson  of  Massasoit)  into 
slavery  with  thousands  of  other  captives. 

They  were  false  and  treacherous,  say  the  men  who 
again  and  again  promised  amnesty  to  such  as  would 
come  in  and  give  themselves  up,  and,  when  they 
came  in  by  hundreds,  shot  the  leaders  and  sold  the 
others  into  slavery.  Compare  this  with  Awashonk’s 
conduct  when  Captain  Church  came  to  treat  with 
her  and  found  himself  surrounded  by  her  warriors. 
She  had  made  no  promises,  and  yet  he  came  to  con- 
fer, and  she  would  not  allow  him  to  be  injured. 

Search  the  white  man’s  record  of  the  entire  war 


42 


MASSASOIT 


and  you  will  grow  weary  in  searching  before  you 
will  find  three  instances  of  common  decency  on  the 
part  of  the  whites  to  parallel  the  three  I am  about 
to  relate. 

When  the  Indians  approached  Providence  in 
1676,  Roger  Williams  went  out  alone  to  meet  them 
to  try  to  dissuade  them  from  their  purpose  of  at- 
tacking the  town.  He  was  seventy-seven  years  of 
age.  “Massachusetts,”  said  he,  “can  raise  thou- 
sands of  men  at  this  moment,  and  if  you  kill  them, 
the  king  of  England  will  supply  their  places  as  fast 
as  they  fall.”  “Let  them  come,”  replied  the 
savages,  “we  are  ready.  But  as  for  you,  Brother 
Williams,  you  are  a good  man.  You  have  been  kind 
to  us  many  years.  Not  a hair  of  your  head  shall  be 
touched.”  And  they  kept  their  promise. 

At  the  commencement  of  hostilities  at  Swansea, 
the  Indians  captured  two  young  sons  of  Sergeant 
Hugh  Cole  and  carried  them  to  their  camp.  King 
Philip,  on  hearing  of  this,  ordered  that  no  harm 
should  be  done  them,  and  sent  a guard  to  shield 
them  from  danger  till  they  should  arrive  home;  for 
as  this  “cruel,  bloodthirsty,  vindictive,  false  and 
treacherous”  savage  said,  “their  father  sometime 
showed  me  kindness.”  King  Philip,  on  the  return 
of  the  boys,  sent  word  to  Sergeant  Cole  that  it 
would  be  better  to  remove  his  family  from  Swansea, 
as  it  might  not  be  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  In- 
dians from  doing  them  injury.  Cole  took  his  ad- 
vice and  removed  his  family  to  the  island  of  Rhode 
Island;  and  they  were  not  out  of  sight  of  their 
house  when  it  was  fired  by  the  Indians. 


INDIAN  CHARACTER 


43 


There  was  a man  named  James  Brown  living  in 
Swansea  who  was  under  the  special  protection  of 
King  Philip,  who  ordered  his  people  to  do  no  harm 
to  him,  because,  as  he  said,  his  father  (Massasoit) 
in  his  life  time,  had  charged  him  to  show  kindness 
to  Mr.  Brown. 

Find  an  instance  in  all  the  history  of  that  war 
which  shows  a Colonist  manifesting  any  gratitude 
for  kindnesses  if  you  can;  point  out  a case  where 
one  of  them  refrained  from  staining  his  hands  with 
the  blood  of  Indian  men,  women  and  children,  be- 
cause a parent,  fifteen  years  or  more  before,  had  re- 
quested that  kindness  be  shown;  and  you  will  show 
a man  competent  to  pass  judgment  on  the  Indians. 

Place  their  records  in  parallel  columns,  and  com- 
pare them  carefully,  with  nothing  to  indicate  which 
is  the  white  man’s  record  and  which  is  the  Indian’s, 
and  you  will  have  difficulty  in  determining,  with 
the  chances  strongly  in  favor  of  your  making  a mis- 
take; consider  them  as  they  stand,  knowing  which 
is  the  white  man’s  and  which  the  Indian’s,  and  you 
will  find  no  difficulty  in  concluding  that  the  terms 
civilized  Christian  and  savage  pagan  are  reversed; 
and  that,  as  shown  by  their  records,  they  should  be 
savage  Christian  and  civilized  pagan. 

The  Indian  “never  forgave  an  injury,  nor  forgot 
a benefit.”  The  latter  part  of  this  saying  is  proven 
true  by  the  three  historical  anecdotes  I have  just 
related.  The  white  man,  of  that  period,  never  for- 
gave an  injury  or  remembered  a benefit,  except  as 
ground  for  demanding  another.  And  these  are  the 
men  from  whom  we  secure  the  information  upon 


44 


MASSASOIT 


which  we  are  to  pass  judgment  on  the  Indian  char- 
acter; or  rather  whose  estimate  of  that  character 
we  are  asked  to  accept  as  final  and  conclusive. 
Fortunately  for  the  memory  of  the  lost  race,  their 
enemies  have  left  enough  behind  in  their  records  to 
enable  men  who  look  at  those  records  without  passion 
or  prejudice  to  reverse  the  judgment. 


Ill 


THE  ALGONQUINS 

MERIC  A,  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  by 


Europeans,  was  peopled  by  a race  whose  origin 
has  ever  remained  a matter  of  conjecture;  whence 
they  came  and  their  relationship,  if  any,  to  other 
peoples  who  then  occupied  or  had  occupied  other 
portions  of  the  known  world  has  remained  one  of 
the  unsolved  problems  of  the  race;  nor  is  it  of  any 
particular  interest  except  as  an  abstract  question  of 
ethnology  whether  they  were  the  descendents  of  the 
lost  tribes  of  Israel  or  of  the  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd 
Kings  of  Egypt,  or  of  the  Tyrians,  each  of  which 
had  played  its  part  in  the  drama  of  life  and  dis- 
appeared from  the  stage.  Whether  they  had  in 
some  remote  period  crossed  from  the  Eastern  hemi- 
sphere, or  were  indigenous  to  the  soil  are  problems 
that  arouse  the  interest  of  the  student  of  sociology, 
because  they  raise  the  question  whether  the  Indians 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  had  relapsed 
into  a state  of  at  least  semi-barbarism  from  the 
civilization  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Northern  Africa  as 
developed  centuries  before,  or  had  advanced  by 
slow  stages  from  the  more  complete  barbarism  of 
primitive  men. 


45 


46 


MASSASOIT 


For  the  purpose  of  this  work,  we  will  take  them 
as  they  were,  leaving  the  problem  of  their  origin  and 
development  to  be  discussed,  or  further  discussed, 
by  scientists  in  the  hope  that,  as  matter  of  abstract 
knowledge,  the  wisdom  of  future  ages  may  pene- 
trate the  veil.  Taking  them  as  the  Europeans 
found  them,  ethnologists  tell  us  that  the  territory 
now  included  within  the  bounds  of  the  United 
States,  excluding  Alaska  and  the  islands  of  the 
seas,  was  occupied  by  seven  distinct  families,  three 
of  which,  the  Algonquin,  Iroquois  and  Appalachian, 
sometimes  called  the  Mobilian,  were  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River. 

As  our  interest  at  this  time  is  limited  to  those 
tribes  located  in  Southern  New  England,  I shall  not 
make  further  reference  to  the  latter  group  which  lay 
south  of  the  Carolinas,  nor  to  the  Iroquois  except  to 
call  attention  to  their  activities,  as  those  activities 
affected  the  Algonquin  tribes  located  along  the 
shores  of  the  rivers,  lakes  and  sea  and  in  the  forest 
fastnesses  of  New  England. 

Of  the  Iroquois,  or  Hodenosaunee,  as  they  called 
themselves,  the  Five  Nations  of  New  York  were 
the  dominant  league,  and  eventually,  being  joined 
by  a sixth,  thus  making  them  the  six  nations,  as 
they  are  frequently  called,  they  overcame  and  ab- 
sorbed the  other  tribes  of  their  own  race;  and  so  in 
later  times  the  six  nations  and  Iroquois  became 
almost  identical  in  meaning.  The  original  five 
nations  were  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas, 
Cayugas  and  Senecas.  The  Tuscaroras  had  at 
some  earlier  time  broken  away  and  settled  on  the 


THE  ALGONQTJINS 


47 


coast  and  streams  of  the  Carolinas,  where  they 
maintained  themselves  against  the  hostile  attacks 
of  Algonquins  and  Appalachians  for  generations,  but 
were  eventually  reunited  with  their  ancient  brethren. 
The  subjugated  Iroquois  tribes,  the  remnants  of 
which  were  absorbed  by  the  five  nations,  were  the 
Hurons  or  Wyandots,  Eries  and  Andastes.  Whence 
they  came,  to  have  thus  settled  themselves  in  the 
limited  territory  they  occupied,  entirely  surrounded 
by  Algonquins,  is  uncertain.  They  themselves  have 
three  traditions  concerning  the  matter,  one  of  which 
tells  us  that  they  came  from  the  north,  another 
that  they  came  from  the  west,  and  the  third  that 
they  sprang  from  the  soil  of  New  York  State. 

The  totemic  clan  seems  to  have  been  more  highly 
developed  among  them  than  among  the  Algonquins, 
the  several  tribes,  independently  of  their  tribal  rela- 
tions, being  united  in  eight  such  clans,  the  members 
of  which  were  bound  together  by  ties  stronger  than 
those  of  tribal  relationship,  intermarriage  between 
members  of  the  same  clan  being  prohibited,  though 
allowed  between  members  of  the  same  tribe  but  of 
different  clans. 

Francis  Parkman,  Jr.,  than  whom  no  historian 
has  taken  greater  pains  to  secure  absolute  accuracy, 
says  of  them:  “They  extended  their  conquests  and 
their  depradations  from  Quebec  to  the  Carolinas, 
and  from  the  Western  prairies  to  the  forests  of 
Maine.  On  the  South  they  forced  tribute  from  the 
subjugated  Delawares  and  pierced  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  the  Cherokees  with  incessant  forays. 
On  the  North  they  uprooted  the  ancient  settlement 


48 


MASSASOIT 


of  the  Wyandots,  on  the  West  they  exterminated 
the  Eries  and  the  Andastes,  and  spread  havoc  and 
dismay  around  the  tribes  of  the  Illinois;  and  on  the 
East  the  Indians  of  New  England  fled  at  the  first 
peal  of  the  Mohawk  War  Cry.  Their  war  parties 
roamed  over  half  America,  and  their  name  was  a 
terror  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi;  but 
when  we  ask  the  numerical  strength  of  the  dreaded 
confederacy,  when  we  discover  that,  in  the  days  of 
their  greatest  triumphs,  their  united  cantons  could 
not  have  mustered  four  thousand  warriors,  we 
stand  amazed  at  the  folly  and  dissension  which  left 
so  vast  a region  the  prey  of  a handful  of  bold  ma- 
rauders.” 

From  this  it  is  readily  seen  that  they  were  a war- 
like people,  dreaded  by  the  Algonquins  everywhere, 
by  whom  they  seem  to  be  known  simply  as  Mo- 
hawks, this  being  perhaps  the  dominant  tribe  in 
the  league.  The  period  of  their  greatest  triumph 
appears  to  have  been  from  1649  to  1672,  for  it  was 
then  that  they  subjugated  their  own  kindred  tribes, 
the  Hurons,  Eries  and  Andastes,  and  overran  the 
Delawares. 

One  of  the  peculiar  customs  of  the  Iroquois  is 
worth  a word  in  passing,  and  that  is  the  rule  of 
descent  through  the  female  line;  that  is,  a chief’s 
brother,  sister  or  sister’s  children  succeeded  to  the 
chieftaincy  rather  than  his  own  or  his  brother’s 
children,  the  reason  being  that  by  no  inconstancy 
on  the  part  of  the  wife  of  a chief  or  of  his  mother  or 
sisters,  was  it  possible  that  his  brother,  sister  or 
sister’s  children  should  not  be  of  his  own  family, 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


49 


even  if  only  through  the  mother,  while  the  children 
of  his  wife  or  of  his  brother’s  wife  might  be  no  rela- 
tion to  him. 

Such  were  the  neighbors  on  the  west  of  the  In- 
dians of  New  England  in  whom  we  are  more  partic- 
ularly interested  in  connection  with  this  work,  but 
whose  history  is  such  a mixture  of  wars  among 
themselves  resulting  from  what  appear  to  be  suc- 
cessive waves  of  migration,  constantly  driven  down 
to  the  New  England  coast  through  their  inability  to 
plant  their  feet  on  the  lands  preempted  by  the  Iro- 
quois; and  wars  with  the  Mohawks  themselves, 
who  crowded  them  so  close  on  the  west  that  no 
sketch  of  the  eastern  Algonquins  is  quite  complete 
without  considering  briefly  these  neighbors  who  had 
succeeded  in  some  way  in  planting  themselves  upon 
or  within  the  Algonquin  territory,  where  they  re- 
mained, a pestilential  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  the  tribes 
surrounding  them. 

Of  the  three  eastern  groups  or  families,  the  Algon- 
quins were  undoubtedly  the  most  numerous  and  ex- 
tended over  the  largest  expanse  of  territory.  Their 
dominion,  excepting  the  region  south  of  Lakes  Erie 
and  Ontario,  and  the  peninsula  between  these  lakes 
and  Lake  Huron,  which  was  occupied  by  the  Iro- 
quois, extended  from  Hudson’s  Bay  to  the  Carolinas 
and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi  and  Lake 
Winnipeg.  To  quote  again  from  Parkman:  “They 
were  Algonquins  who  greeted  Jacques  Cartier,  as 
his  ships  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  first 
British  Colonists  found  savages  of  the  same  race 
hunting  and  fishing  along  the  coasts  and  inlets  of 


50 


MASSASOIT 


Virginia,  and  it  was  the  daughter  of  an  Algonquin 
chief  who  interceded  with  her  father  for  the  life  of 
the  adventuresome  Englishman.  They  were  Algon- 
quins,  who,  under  Sassacus  the  Pequot  and  Philip 
of  Mt.  Hope,  waged  deadly  war  against  the  Puri- 
tans of  New  England,  who  dwelt  at  Pennacook  under 
the  rule  of  the  great  magician,  Passaconaway,  and 
trembled  before  the  evil  spirits  of  the  Crystal  Hills; 
and  who  sang  Aves  and  told  their  beads  in  the  forest 
chapel  of  Father  Rasies,  by  the  banks  of  the  Kenne- 
bec. They  were  Algonquins,  who  under  the  great 
tree  at  Kensington,  made  the  covenant  of  peace 
with  William  Penn.” 

In  the  year  1000  when  Thorvald  with  his  viking 
crew  sought  to  establish  a colony  at  Vinland,  this 
group  of  the  American  Indians  was  limited  to  much 
narrower  confines.  The  skroellings  whom  he  en- 
countered and  at  whose  hands  he  met  his  fate,  during 
the  five  centuries  that  elapsed  between  his  adven- 
turous attempt  and  the  next  recorded  visits  of  Euro- 
peans, had  been  driven  north  by  advancing  waves  of 
Algonquin  migration;  and  their  descendants  are 
still  occupying  the  frozen  regions  of  the  far  north. 
Esquimau,  we  call  them,  signifying  in  the  Algonquin 
tongue,  “Eaters  of  Raw  Fish.”  What  took  place 
during  those  five  centuries  is  matter  of  conjecture; 
but  there  are  certain  historical  facts  that  make  it 
possible  to  draw  inferences  supported  by  reason. 

The  Leni  Lenapee,  in  their  own  tongue,  the  Loups 
of  the  French,  the  Delawares  of  the  English,  call 
themselves  the  parent  stock  of  the  Algonquin  group, 
and  their  claim  seems  to  be  admitted  by  the  other 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


51 


branches.  The  name  by  which  they  designate 
themselves  means  “original  men,”  and  in  speaking 
of  or  to  the  members  of  other  tribes  of  the  family, 
they  used  the  terms,  little  brothers,  children,  grand- 
children or  nephews,  and  the  other  tribes  referred 
to  them  as  father  or  grandfather. 

So  it  is  likely  that  the  Algonquin  group  had  its 
origin,  or  at  some  remote  time  had  established  itself, 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland 
and  eastern  Pennsylvania,  and  as  its  original  limits 
became  too  narrow  it  spread  out  to  the  North,  the 
East,  the  South  and  the  West  in  successive  waves 
of  migration,  each  driving  the  preceding  one  further 
and  further  away  from  the  home  of  its  fathers. 

Schoolcraft  believes  that  the  Wolf  Totem,  or 
Mohicans,  were  the  first  of  the  three  clans  of  the 
Lenapee  to  migrate,  locating  near  Albany,  whence 
they  were  driven  over  the  Hoosic  and  Pekonet  ranges 
into  the  valley  of  the  Housatonic;  and  Gallatin 
says  this  was  the  only  one  of  the  subdivisions  to 
leave  their  ancient  hunting  grounds.  Neither  ex- 
presses any  opinion  whether  they  were,  forced  east- 
ward from  the  Hudson  by  other  migratory  bands  of 
Algonquins  from  the  parent  stock  or  by  the  Iro- 
quois; and  there  appears  to  be  nothing  in  the  works 
of  early  historians  that  furnishes  any  evidence, 
gathered  by  men  who  have  made  a study  of  Indian 
lore  and  traditions  at  their  sources,  whether  the  Iro- 
quois were  there  before  the  Algonquins  in  such 
strength  that  they  could  not  be  forced  back,  but 
allowed  the  latter  to  sweep  around  them,  or  came 
down  from  the  west  or  north  and  met  the  advanc- 


52 


MASSASOIT 


ing  movement  of  the  Algonquin  migration  and 
drove  a wedge  in  it  which  could  not  be  dislodged. 

Schoolcraft  thinks  it  probable  that  the  Pequots, 
who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
were  in  the  ascendency  in  the  Mohican  federation, 
were  true  Mohicans,  and  that  the  wars  waged 
between  Sassacus  the  Pequot  and  Uncas  the  Mohi- 
can were  family  rows  for  the  sovereignty  of  the 
federation.  In  speaking  of  the  Pequot  war  in 
which  that  tribe,  with  its  six  or  seven  hundred 
fighting  men,  was  wiped  out  he  says,  “By  this  de- 
feat the  Mohicans,  a minor  branch  of  the  federa- 
tion, under  the  government  of  Uncas  gained  the 
ascendency  in  Connecticut.”  The  whole  matter  of 
tribal  relations  is  so  much  in  doubt  that  speculation 
is  almost  useless,  and  yet  it  has  a fascination  that 
makes  it  difficult  to  leave. 

Major  Daniel  Gookin,  who  commanded  the 
Middlesex  regiment  in  King  Philip’s  war,  writing  in 
1674,  which  would  be  just  before  that  war  broke 
out,  enumerates  as  the  five  principal  “nations”  of 
New  England,  the  “Pequots,  including  the  Mohi- 
cans, and  occupying  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  of 
Connecticut;  the  Narragansetts,  occupying  nearly 
all  of  Rhode  Island;  the  Pawkunnawkuts  or  Wam- 
panoags,  chiefly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Plymouth 
Colony;  the  Massachusetts,  in  the  bay  of  that 
name  and  adjacent  parts;  and  the  Pawtuckets 
north  and  east  of  the  Massachusetts,  including  the 
Pennacooks  of  New  Hampshire,  and  probably  all 
the  northeastern  tribes  as  far  as  the  Abenakis  or 
Tarrateens,  as  they  seem  to  have  been  called  by  the 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


53 


New  England  Indians.”  The  Nipmucks  he  men- 
tions as  living  north  of  the  Mohicans  and  west  of  the 
Massachusetts,  occupying  the  central  part  of  that 
state,  and  acknowledging  to  a certain  extent,  the 
supremacy  of  the  Massachusetts,  the  Narragansetts 
or  the  Mohicans.  Other  writers  also  assert  that 
some  of  their  tribes  were  tributary  to  the  Wam- 
panoags,  and  there  is  very  good  reason  for  believing 
this  to  be  true. 

These  federations  comprise  the  tribes  with  which 
the  earliest  colonists  were  brought  directly  in  con- 
tact, and,  consequently  in  the  pursuit  of  the  sub- 
ject in  which  we  are  particularly  interested,  further 
mention  of  the  Indians  of  New  England  will  be 
limited  for  the  most  part  to  them.  In  passing,  how- 
ever, a glance  at  some  of  the  other  tribes  whom 
Gookin  groups  as  Abenakis  or  Tarrateens,  will  not 
be  out  of  place. 

Other  writers  apply  the  term  Abenaki  to  a much 
narrower  limit,  confining  it  to  the  Micmacs  of 
Nova  Scotia,  called  Souriquois  by  the  French,  the 
Abenaki,  now  called  the  St.  Francis,  in  Canada, 
and  the  Passamaquoddies  and  Penobscots  of  Maine, 
which  four  tribes  or  federations  are  said  to  have 
called  themselves  not  Abenaki,  that  being  the  name 
of  one  of  them,  but  “Wabanaki,”  an  Algonquin 
word  meaning  white  or  light,  and  believed  to  refer 
to  the  fact  that  they  were  the  first  upon  whom  the 
fight  of  the  sun  rested  as  he  started  in  his  daily 
journey  across  the  heavens. 

The  Micmacs,  Passamaquoddies  and  Penobscots 
appear  to  have  been  extremely  rich  in  folklore, 


54 


MASSASOIT 


myth  and  legend,  an  interesting  collection  of  which 
was  made  by  Charles  G.  Leland  in  1884  under  the 
title  of  “Algonquin  Legends  of  New  England.”  As 
one  of  the  sources  of  his  authority  for  these  legends 
and  traditions,  Leland  tells  us  that  the  Wampum 
Records  of  the  Passamaquoddies  were  read  for  him 
by  “Sapiel  Selmo,  the  only  living  Indian  who  had 
the  key  to  them.” 

Whatever  subdivisions  may  have  existed  among 
them,  or  whatever  federations  made  up  of  various 
closely  related  tribes;  whatever  potency  there  may 
have  been  in  their  totemic  bonds;  whatever  civil 
wars  may  have  rent  them  asunder,  this  fact  we 
know,  that  from  the  time  of  our  earliest  knowledge 
of  this  part  of  the  world  after  the  Saga  of  Thorvald, 
until  their  practical  extermination,  all  of  New  Eng- 
land was  peopled  by  tribes  of  this  great  Algonquin 
family.  To  attempt  an  enumeration  of  them  would 
be  useless;  their  name  is  legion;  and  most  of  them 
are  long  since  forgotten,  except  as  they  have  left 
their  names  indelibly  stamped  upon  the  places  they 
once  inhabited,  the  mountains  from  whose  summits 
their  watch  fires  burned  as  they  surveyed  from  the 
lofty  heights  the  country  round,  and  the  streams 
upon  whose  silvery  bosoms  they  paddled  their 
light  canoes 

A few  of  the  more  powerful  tribes,  or,  in  some 
cases,  federations,  have  made  such  an  impress  upon 
the  life  of  the  colonists,  with  whom  the  history  of 
America,  as  it  is  today,  begins,  that  their  names 
and  exploits  have  been  handed  down  to  us  by  the 
writers  of  that  history;  and  a remnant  of  what  was 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


55 


once  a proud  and  powerful  people  in  some  few  cases 
remains  to  remind  their  conquerors  how  futile  were 
the  efforts  of  the  children  of  nature  to  withstand  the 
onward  sweep  of  a higher  civilization  than  they  had 
attained.  Among  the  latter  are  the  Passamaquod- 
dies,  some  five  or  six  hundred  of  whom  still  occupy 
a small  portion  of  their  ancient  hunting  grounds  in 
eastern  Maine;  the  Penobscots,  who  in  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century  occupied  the  beau- 
tiful valley  of  the  river  and  the  shores  of  the  bay 
from  which  time  has  not  been  able  to  efface  their 
name,  and  in  which  river  two  islands  still  furnish  a 
home  for  the  five  or  six  hundred  remaining  members 
of  the  tribe;  and  the  Gay  Heads,  the  descendants  of 
the  tribe  that  under  the  Sachem  Epenow,  in  the 
Pilgrims'  time  occupied  Capawack  or  Nope,  now 
Martha’s  Vineyard,  together  with  a few  scattering 
members  of  other  tribes  distributed  throughout 
Massachusetts;  to  say  nothing  of  the  few  hundred 
descendants  of  the  Mohicans  who  fought  under  Un- 
cas,  and  a like  number  in  whose  veins  flows  the 
blood  of  the  warriors  who  followed  the  three  great 
Narragansett  Chiefs,  Canonicus,  Miantonomo  and 
Canonchet. 

Many  of  these  have  by  intermarriage  almost  lost 
their  identity,  and  even  those  who  still  cling  to  the 
lands  allotted  to  them  by  the  governments,  are  for 
the  most  part  so  crossed  with  other  races  that  they 
would  not,  in  most  instances,  be  recognized  as  the 
descendants  of  the  men  our  fathers  found  here  three 
hundred  years  ago. 

The  Passamaquoddies  and  Penobscots  are  as 


56 


MASSASOIT 


much  French  as  Indian,  and  nearly  all  the  natives 
of  Massachusetts  have  mingled  the  blood  of  the 
Indian  with  that  of  the  African,  Schoolcraft  say- 
ing in  1850  that  there  were  not  more  than  seven  or 
eight  full  blooded  Indians  among  the  eight  hundred 
and  forty-seven  in  the  state.  Occasionally  one  meets 
a family  who  would  never  be  suspected  of  being 
anything  but  the  purest  whites,  but  who  boast  the 
blood  of  the  children  of  the  forest. 

Among  the  tribes  that  have  left  their  names  in- 
delibly stamped  upon  the  localities  in  which  they 
lived,  but  were  not  so  closely  connected  with  the 
earliest  settlements  as  to  have  been  active  partici- 
pants in  the  scenes  enacted  there,  and  consequently 
have  not  received  the  particular  attention  of  his- 
torians, and  have  left  no  sufficient  surviving  rem- 
nant of  their  former  strength  to  perpetuate  their 
memoiy  through  their  posterity,  one  notes  with  in- 
terest the  Kennebecs,  whose  lordly  river  still  flows 
down  to  the  sea  through  their  ancient  hunting 
grounds  with  the  same  calm  and  peaceful  movement 
in  the  seasons  of  low  water,  and  the  same  torrential 
rush  when  the  sun  in  his  northward  travels  unfetters 
its  thousand  feeding  brooks  and  springs,  as  in  the 
days  when  the  children  of  the  forest  dipped  their 
dusky  bodies  in  its  cooling  waters;  the  Norridge- 
wocks,  who  dwelt  farther  back  towards  the  head- 
waters of  the  same  river,  and  whose  name  will  not 
be  forgotten  as  long  as  the  people  of  Norridgewock, 
Maine,  tell  their  children  that  their  town  derives  its 
name  from  the  Indians  whose  children  listened  to 
the  folklore  and  songs  of  their  people  at  their 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


57 


mothers’  knees  on  this  same  spot  three  centuries 
ago;  the  Androscoggins  who  dipped  their  paddles 
noiselessly  into  the  waters  of  the  noble  river  that 
now  turns  the  wheels  of  hundreds  of  mills,  but  will 
not  allow  the  name  of  its  first  navigators  to  be  sunk 
in  oblivion;  the  Piscataquas  who  dwelt  about  the 
place  where  now  a government  navy  yard  gives 
shelter  to  men  of  war  beside  which  the  frail  bark 
canoes  of  the  natives  are  as  the  fingerlings  of  the 
shore  beside  the  leviathans  of  the  deep,  and  who 
have  left  their  name  upon  the  river  that  “widens  to 
meet  the  sea”  at  Portsmouth;  and  the  Pemaquids, 
who  little  dreamed  when  they  heaped  the  shells  of 
clams  and  other  edible  mollusks  in  huge  piles  along 
the  shore,  that  they  were  erecting  a monument  to 
themselves,  to  be  gazed  at  in  wonder  by  generations 
of  their  destroyers;  and  whose  name  still  clings  to 
the  places  they  once  roamed  at  will. 

Other  powerful  federations  there  were  whose 
friendship  or  hostility  were  matters  of  life  or  death 
to  hundreds,  aye,  even  thousands  of  the  early  ad- 
venturers who  attempted  to  establish  upon  these 
shores  homes  for  themselves  and  their  posterity, 
adventurers  only  in  the  sense  that  they  ventured 
everything,  even  life  itself,  upon  a throw  of  the 
dice  of  fate.  Drake  speaks  of  five  great  Sachem- 
ries,  the  Pequots,  Narragansetts,  Wampanoags, 
Massachusetts,  and  Pawtuckets,  and  he  speaks  of 
them  as  though  they  were  the  only  five  federations 
in  New  England  worthy  the  dignity  of  that  desig- 
nation, following  Gookin  in  this  respect;  but  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  some  of  these  ever  held  in  com- 


58 


MASSASOIT 


plete  subordination  many  of  the  tribes  which  were 
at  times  closely  associated  with  them.  An  illus- 
tration of  this  is  seen  in  the  Connecticut  River  In- 
dians of  various  tribal  designations,  the  Mohicans 
and  Niantics  who  were  among  the  deadly  enemies 
of  the  Pequots,  by  whom  they  were  conquered  and 
reduced  to  such  a state  of  subjugation  that  they 
may  perhaps  have  been  fairly  counted  as  of  the  Pe- 
quot  nation  in  the  early  colonial  days. 

The  Tarratines.  — Another  interesting  group 
whose  identity  is  not  clearly  established,  is  that 
known  in  New  England  history  as  Tarratines,  Tar- 
rateens  or  Tarrentines,  as  the  name  is  variously 
spelled.  Who  they  were  or  whence  they  came  is  one 
of  history’s  unsolved  problems.  That  they  were 
able  to  muster  powerful  raiding  parties  is  clearly 
shown  by  the  success  with  which  they  carried  out 
their  plundering  expeditions  against  the  tribes  of 
Massachusetts  and  Wampanoags  before  the  pesti- 
lence had  decimated  these  two  federations.  That 
they  were  raiders  and  plunderers  is  clearly  estab- 
lished by  the  testimony  of  contemporary  writers, 
part  of  whose  information  was  gleaned  from  the 
sufferers  from  their  expeditions.  The  great  inva- 
sion of  Massachusetts  and  Wampanoag  territories 
sometime  between  1615  and  1617  is  accepted  as  a 
historical  fact;  Bradford  speaks  of  the  Massachu- 
setts being  in  fear  of  them  in  September,  1621,  that 
being  the  season  of  their  visitations  to  “reap  where 
they  have  not  sowed”;  and  Drake  tells  of  an  attack 
made  by  them  upon  the  Indians  at  Agawam  (Ips- 
wich) in  August,  1631,  in  which  they  killed  seven. 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


59 


In  the  Planters’  Plea  they  are  spoken  of  as  a 
predatory  tribe  living  fifty  or  sixty  leagues  to  the 
northeast  (of  Massachusetts  Bay);  and  it  is  there 
said  that  they  raised  no  corn  on  account  of  the  cli- 
mate, but  came  down  and  reaped  the  Massachusetts 
Indians’  harvest.  Drake  speaks  of  them  as  lying 
east  of  the  Pawtuckets,  and  also  as  lying  east  of 
the  Piscataqua  River,  which  would  place  them 
almost  anywhere  in  Maine,  as  he  does  not  attempt 
to  give  their  precise  limits.  Albert  Gallatin  in  his 
Archaeologia  Americana,  in  which  he  calls  the  five 
federations  of  Southern  New  England  by  the  gen- 
eral designation  New  England  Indians,  says  the 
dividing  line  between  these  latter  and  the  Abenaki 
was  somewhere  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the 
Kennebec,  and  cites  Governor  Sullivan  as  authority 
for  placing  it  at  the  Saco  River.  He  also  calls  at- 
tention to  what  he  calls  a confirmation  of  this  by 
French  writers  who  mention  a tribe  which  they 
call  the  Sakokies,  adjacent  to  the  Abenaki  and 
the  New  England  Indians,  and  which  was  originally 
in  alliance  with  the  Iroquois,  but  were  converted  by 
the  Jesuits  and  withdrew  into  Canada.  Other 
writers  locate  the  Tarratines  definitely  east  of  the 
Penobscot,  which  would  bring  them  between  the 
Passamaquoddies  and  the  Penobscots  unless  they 
were,  indeed,  roving  members  of  one  or  both  of  these 
tribes.  Gallatin  makes  no  other  mention  of  them 
as  a tribe  than  to  quote  from  Gookin,  who  speaks  of 
the  “Abenakis  or  Tarrateens,  as  they  are  called  by 
the  New  England  Indians.”  The  two  names  are 
used  by  Gookin  to  designate  all  the  Indians  east  of 


60 


MASSASOIT 


the  Pawtuckets,  and  Schoolcraft  accepts  this  classi- 
fication. Gallatin  further  says:  “The  tribes  of 
Nova  Scotia  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  were  first  called 
by  the  French  Souriquois.  They  are  now  known 
as  Micmacs.  The  French  adopted  the  names  given 
by  the  Souriquois  to  the  neighboring  tribes.  The 
Etchemins,  stretching  from  the  Passamaquoddy 
Bay  to  St.  John’s  Island  and  west  of  the  Kennebec 
River  as  far  as  Cape  Cod,  they  called  the  Almou- 
chiquois.” 

Etchemins  means  canoe  men,  and  may  well  have 
been  applied  to  the  bold  canoe  men  of  all  the  shore 
tribes  who  navigated  the  deep  waters  of  the  sea, 
and  Almouchiquois  would  then  mean  the  same.  If 
we  attempt  to  give  it  any  other  meaning  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  French  or  the  Mic- 
macs, whichever  first  defined  their  limits  as  above, 
knew  very  little  about  the  people  to  the  southwest, 
or  that  every  one  else  is  very  much  mistaken.  Con- 
tinuing Gallatin  says:  “The  Indians  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Kennebec  planted  nothing  according  to 
Champlain,  but  those  further  inland  or  up  the  river 
planted  maize.  These  inland  tribes  were  the  Abe- 
nakis,  consisting  of  several  tribes,  the  principal  of 
which  were  the  Penobscots,  the  Norridgewocks  and 
the  Ameriscoggins,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
Indians  at  the  mouth  of  both  rivers  were  con- 
founded by  Champlain  with  the  Etchemins  belong- 
ing to  the  same  nation.  The  Etchemins  comprise 
the  Passamaquoddies  in  the  United  States  and  the 
St.  John’s  in  New  Brunswick.”  In  another  para- 
graph he  says  that  Champlain  found  no  cultivation 


THE  ALGONQUINS  61 

of  the  soil  from  Passamaquoddy  Bay  to  the  Kenne- 
bec River. 

The  French  writers’  reference  to  a tribe  between 
the  Abenaki  and  the  New  England  Indians  is  inter- 
esting from  two  points.  They  were  in  alliance  with 
the  Iroquois,  which  leads  to  the  inquiry  whether 
they  may  not  have  been  a branch  of  that  group, 
sprung  from  some  of  their  war  parties  who  overcame 
the  tribe  occupying  the  location  where  the  French 
found  them,  slaughtered  the  warriors,  and  took  the 
women  to  their  own  wigwams,  and  settled  down 
upon  the  conquered  territory.  Were  they  the  Tar- 
ratines?  The  warlike  propensity  of  the  Iroquois 
manifests  itself  in  the  Tarratine  raids;  but  against 
this  theory  is  the  fact  that  the  Iroquois  were  ad- 
vanced agriculturalists,  and  the  “Tarratines  raised 
no  corn”;  and  the  further  fact  that  the  region  where 
nothing  was  planted  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ken- 
nebec and  east  of  it,  while  this  mysterious  tribe, 
which  appears  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the 
English  writers,  lived  west  of  that  river.  I do  not 
advance  any  opinion,  but  simply  call  attention  to 
this  matter  as  an  interesting  subject  for  speculation. 

If  we  attempt  to.  reconcile  all  the  apparently  con- 
flicting statements  concerning  these  people,  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Etchemins  or  Al- 
mouchiquois  were  the  dwellers  along  the  coast, 
experts  in  handling  their  frail  barks,  daring  navi- 
gators of  various  tribes,  but  not  a distinct  tribe; 
that  Abenaki  was  a term  applied  generally  to  a large 
group  of  tribes  covering  Maine,  New  Brunswick 
and  Nova  Scotia,  the  name  undoubtedly  being  de- 


62 


MASSASOIT 


rived  from  the  same  root  as  “Wabanaki”  which  as 
already  noted  means  light;  that  Tarratine  was  not 
the  name  of  any  tribe  but  a term  applied  to  the  raid- 
ing parties  which  visited  the  Massachusetts  coast; 
and  if  the  statement  in  the  Planter’s  Plea  that  they 
planted  no  corn  is  correct,  and  Champlain’s  definite 
location  of  the  people  who  planted  nothing  is  re- 
liable, then  the  Tarratines  were  Abenaki,  living 
east  of  the  Kennebec  River  or  at  its  mouth;  they 
were  Etchemins,  or  bold  navigators;  they  planted 
nothing,  not  as  said  in  the  Planter’s  Plea  “on  ac- 
count of  the  climate,”  for  the  tribes  “farther  inland 
cultivated  maize”;  but  because  they  preferred  to 
secure  their  supply  of  corn  by  reaping  their  neigh- 
bors’ harvest. 

The  Pennacooks.  — Gookin,  Drake  and  School- 
craft speak  of  the  federation,  sometimes  called  Pen- 
nacooks, as  Pawtuckets,  but  in  his  last  speech, 
Passaconaway,  their  sachem,  uses  the  term  Penna- 
cooks in  such  a way  as  to  indicate  that  this  was  the 
name  applied  to  all  his  people.  It  may,  however, 
be  that  Passaconaway  or  some  of  his  predecessors, 
was  originally  the  sachem  of  the  Pennacooks,  and 
that  this  was  the  dominant  tribe  in  the  Pawtucket 
federation,  just  as  appears  to  have  been  the  situa- 
tion with  relation  to  the  Pokanokets  and  the  Wam- 
panoags.  As  we  shall  not  have  occasion  again  to 
refer  particularly  to  the  Pennacooks,  a word  about 
its  aged  sachem,  Passaconaway,  and  his  son  and 
successor,  Wonolancet,  may  well  be  written  here  in 
passing.  Passaconaway  resided  at  Pawtucket  Falls 
(Lowell),  had  an  alliance  with  the  Penobscots,  and 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


63 


was  a friend  of  Eliot,  the  celebrated  preacher  among 
the  Indians,  but  did  not  appear  to  be  particulary 
interested  in  the  religion  he  preached  until  1648. 
It  appears  that  in  1642,  the  settlers,  becoming  dis- 
trustful of  Passaconaway  in  consequence  of  rumors 
that  he  was  stirring  up  discord  among  the  Indians, 
sent  men  to  arrest  him  and  his  son  Wonolancet. 
Passaconaway  succeeded  in  evading  them  through 
the  intervention  of  a storm  that  raged  with  con- 
siderable violence,  but  they  took  Wonolancet  and 
led  him  away  with  a rope  around  his  neck,  for  by 
such  acts  they  sought  to  inspire  terror  in  the  hearts 
of  the  natives  rather  than,  by  acts  of  consideration, 
to  inspire  confidence.  Wonolancet  escaped  but  was 
retaken  and  brought  to  Boston.  This  act  made 
Passaconaway  suspicious  of  the  English  and  of  their 
motives,  and  undoubtedly  served  to  widen  the 
breach  between  the  two  races  that  had  already  re- 
sulted from  some  arbitrary  acts  on  the  part  of  the 
English,  and  which  finally  culminated  in  King 
Philip’s  war;  and  it  is  given  by  some  early  writers 
as  a reason  for  Passaconaway’s  refusal  to  see  Eliot 
when  he  made  a visit  to  the  Falls  in  the  fishing 
season  of  1647.  The  following  year,  however,  he 
heard  him  preach,  and  publicly  announced  his  belief 
in  the  God  of  the  English. 

In  1660  he  turned  over  the  active  direction  of  the 
affairs  of  his  tribe  to  Wonolancet,  his  son,  and  soon 
after  died,  it  is  said  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years.  Wonolancet  wielded  the  sceptre  until 
1667  and  maintained  friendly  relations  with  the 
whites  during  all  that  time.  In  1660,  probably  on 


64 


MASSASOIT 


the  occasion  of  his  surrendering  the  tomahawk  of 
authority  to  Wonolancet,  a great  feast  was  given  at 
Pawtucket  Falls  in  his  honor,  which  was  attended 
not  only  by  his  own  people  but  by  chiefs  and  war- 
riors from  other  tribes.  On  this  occasion,  he  de- 
livered his  farewell  address  as  reported  by  early 
writers  as  follows: 

PASSACONAWAY’S  SPEECH 

“Hearken  to  the  words  of  your  father ! I 
am  an  old  oak  that  has  withstood  the 
storms  of  more  than  a hundred  winters. 
Leaves  and  branches  have  been  stripped 
from  me  by  the  winds.  My  eyes  are  dim; 
my  limbs  totter;  I must  soon  fall.  When 
young,  no  one  could  bury  the  hatchet  in  the 
sapling  before  me.  My  arrows  could  pierce 
the  deer  at  a hundred  rods.  No  wigwam 
had  so  many  furs,  no  pole  had  so  many 
scalplocks  as  Passaconaway’s.  Then  I de- 
lighted in  war.  The  whoop  of  the  Penna- 
cooks  was  heard  on  the  Mohawk,  and  no 
voice  as  loud  as  Passaconaway’s.  The 
scalps  upon  the  pole  in  my  wigwam  told 
the  story  of  Mohawk  suffering.  The  Eng- 
lish came;  they  seized  the  lands;  they  fol- 
lowed upon  my  footpaths.  I made  war 
upon  them  but  they  fought  with  fire  and 
thunder.  My  young  men  were  swept  down 
before  me  when  no  one  was  near  them.  I 
tried  sorcery  against  them  but  they  still  in- 


THE  ALGONQUINS 


65 


creased,  and  prevailed  over  me  and  mine;  I 
gave  place  to  them  and  retired  to  my  beau- 
tiful island,  Naticook.  I,  who  can  take  the 
rattlesnake  in  my  palm  as  I would  a worm 
without  harm  — I,  that  have  had  com- 
munication with  the  Great  Spirit,  dream- 
ing and  awake  — I am  powerless  before 
the  pale  faces.  These  meadows  they  shall 
turn  with  the  plow;  these  forests  shall  fall 
by  the  axe;  the  pale  faces  shall  live  upon 
your  hunting  grounds  and  make  their  vil- 
lages upon  your  fishing  places.  The  Great 
Spirit  says  this  and  it  must  be  so.  We  are 
few  and  powerless  before  them.  We  must 
bend  before  the  storm.  Peace  with  the 
white  men  is  the  command  of  the  Great 
Spirit  and  the  wish  — the  last  wish  — of 
Passaconaway.” 

I have  already  referred  to  the  Leni  Lenapee  as 
the  parent  stock  of  the  Algonquins;  and  to  the  fact 
of  their  subjugation  by  the  Five  Nations  at  some 
time  between  1649  and  1672;  but  as  I did  not  call 
attention  to  the  depth  of  their  degradation,  this  chap- 
ter would  hardly  be  complete  without  furthur  ref- 
erence to  it.  So  complete  was  their  defeat  and 
submission  to  their  conquerors,  that  they  were  com- 
pelled to  forego  the  use  of  arms  and  to  assume  the 
name  of  “women.”  So  when  Penn  made  his  fa- 
mous treaty  with  them  in  1682,  he  treated  with 
“women”  and  not  with  warriors. 

When  the  Five  Nations  afterwards  allotted  land 


66 


MASSASOIT 


to  them,  and  they  were  crowded  by  the  encroach- 
ments of  settlers,  they  moved  even  further  west 
than  they  were  ordered,  and  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  French  in  their  wars  with  the  English. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution  they  declared 
their  independence  of  their  conquerors,  and  a few 
years  later  at  a public  council,  the  Five  Nations  con- 
fessed that  the  Lenapee  were  no  longer  women  but 
men;  and  thus  the  stock  that  had  peopled  nearly 
all  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  continent  came 
into  its  own  again.  At  the  time  of  which  we  write 
they  had  not  been  reduced  to  a state  of  vassalage, 
but  were  still  the  grandfather  of  the  other  tribes  of 
the  Algonquin  family  and  lived  in  their  ancient 
hunting  grounds,  a free  people,  just  as  their  de- 
scendants lived  in  all  the  vast  territory  the  limits 
of  which  I have  already  outlined. 

Here  they  and  their  children  of  the  other  tribes 
fished  the  streams  whose  banks  are  now  lined  with 
the  cities  of  the  strangers  from  across  the  great 
waters  whom  they  welcomed  with  open  arms,  and 
who  repaid  their  hospitality  by  waging  upon  them 
a perpetual  war  of  extermination.  Here  they  hunted 
the  primeval  forests,  which  the  settlers’  axe  has  laid 
low  that  the  giant  trees  might  contribute  to  the  re- 
quirements of  a people  to  whom  the  Indian  methods 
of  living  were  but  a tradition  of  the  past.  Here, 
too,  their  war  whoops  resounded  as  they  waged 
their  internecine  war  upon  each  other;  and  here, 
when  the  tomahawk  had  been  buried,  they  smoked 
the  pipe  of  peace,  and  its  smoke  ascending  wafted 
their  prayers  to  the  Great  Spirit,  whose  existence 


THE  ALGONQTJINS  67 

revealed  itself  to  them  in  every  object  that  came 
within  range  of  their  observation. 

The  Wampanoags,  Narragansetts,  Pequots  and 
Mohicans  were  so  closely  associated  with  the  vari- 
ous affairs  growing  out  of  the  first  contact  of  the 
whites  with  Massasoit  and  his  Wampanoags  that  I 
shall  consider  them  further  in  subsequent  chapters, 
which  will  also  contain  occasional  reference  to  the 
Massachusetts;  and,  as  the  individuality  of  the  sa- 
chems was  a potent  factor  in  the  attitude  of  their 
tribes,  due  attention  will  be  given  to  the  prominent 
leaders  of  their  people. 


IV 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 

DECEMBER  7,  1620  (December  17,  new  style) 
found  the  Mayflower  lying  inside  of  Cape 
Cod.  This  locality,  and  particularly  “the  place 
that  on  Captain  John  Smith’s  map  is  called  Pli- 
moth,”  had  been  highly  recommended  to  them  as  a 
suitable  location  for  the  establishment  of  a perma- 
nent settlement.  They  had  been  on  shipboard  for 
a long  time,  the  life  was  becoming  irksome,  and 
they  were  desirous  of  effecting  a landing  before  the 
Sabbath  which  was  approaching,  and  on  which,  in 
their  religious  zeal,  there  could  be  no  question  of 
work.  So  they  sent  their  shallop  ashore  in  search 
of  a suitable  spot.  The  shallop  made  a landing  at 
Nauset,  now  Eastham,  a place  which  derived  its 
name  from  that  of  the  tribe  of  Indians  located  there, 
which  we  find  mentioned  frequently  m the  writings 
of  the  early  chroniclers.  The  boat’s  crew  spent  the 
night  there,  and  in  the  early  morning  they  were 
alarmed  by  the  sentry  whom  they  had  posted,  and 
who  announced  the  presence  of  Indians.  This 
alarm  was  followed  by  a demonstration  against  the 
camp.  The  natives  were  soon  driven  off  by  the 
discharge  of  the  muskets  of  the  English,  who  then 
returned  to  their  ship.  After  this,  their  first  en- 

68 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


69 


counter  with  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  land, 
they  were  not  further  annoyed  by  them  until  the 
following  February,  when  they  began  to  show  them- 
selves from  time  to  time  about  the  settlement  at 
Plymouth,  always  holding  themselves  aloof,  how- 
ever, until  the  sixteenth  of  March,  when  Samoset 
made  his  memorable  visit  with  the  details  of  which 
every  reader  of  American  history  is  familiar. 

Colonel  Robert  B.  Caverly  in  his  account  of  the 
early  Indian  wars  speaks  of  Aspinet,  who  was  sa- 
chem of  Nauset  at  that  time,  as  a Mohandsick. 
The  people  of  this  name  were  located  on  Long 
Island  and  the  question  naturally  arises,  how  came 
this  detached  tribe  of  Mohandsicks,  whose  war 
strength  in  1621  was  said  to  be  one  hundred  warriors, 
to  be  so  separated  from  the  rest  of  their  kindred? 
The  Mohandsicks,  like  the  Manhattans  of  lower 
New  York,  probably  were  Mohicans,  or  at  least 
more  closely  related  to  the  latter  than  to  any  other 
of  the  numerous  branches  of  the  Algonquin  family; 
and,  while  it  does  not  appear  that  there  had  been 
any  hostility  between  the  Mohicans  and  the  Wam- 
panoags,  perhaps  because  of  the  fact  that  their 
hunting  grounds  were  separated  by  those  of  the 
Narragansetts,  it  seems  rather  out  of  the  ordinary 
course  that  we  would  expect  migrations  to  take  for 
this  tribe  to  separate  itself  from  the  remainder  of 
its  people  and  isolate  itself  down  on  the  end  of 
Cape  Cod  in  Wampanoag  territory.  There  would 
be  but  two  ways  for  them  to  have  reached  that 
point,  one  by  water,  which  with  their  limited  facili- 
ties for  making  such  long  journeys  seems  imprac- 


70 


MASSASOIT 


ticable,  though  not  impossible,  and  the  other  by- 
crossing  Narragansett  and  Wampanoag  territory, 
which  could  be  done  only  if  they  were  on  friendly 
terms;  unless,  indeed,  they  were  a detached  body  of 
Mohandsicks,  who  had  settled  on  the  mainland  very 
early  in  the  period  of  migration  and  had  been  swept 
down  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  Cape  by  succeeding 
waves,  and  had  there  been  able  to  maintain  them- 
selves, or  had  been  allowed  to  remain  unmolested. 

None  of  these  theories  is  impossible,  as  we  have 
seen  the  Tuscaroras  separating  themselves  from  the 
other  nations  of  the  Iroquois  and,  either  crossing 
leagues  of  Algonquin  territory,  or  following  the 
coast  in  their  frail  canoes,  settling  on  the  coast  of 
the  Carolinas. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  most  intimate 
racial  connection  of  the  Nausets,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  at  the  time  of  which  I am  writing,  they 
were  subjects  of  the  Great  Sachem  of  the  Wampa- 
noags,  although,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  they  did 
not  hesitate  at  times  to  engage  in  conspiracies 
against  the  whites  without  the  sanction  of  their 
great  chief.  It  may  be  that  other  tribes  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Wampanoag  domain,  such  as  the 
Manomets,  Monamoyicks,  Paomets,  Sawkattuckets, 
Matakes,  Nobsquossets,  and  Sokones,  and  perhaps 
the  Nan  tuckets  and  the  Capawacks,  were  more 
closely  related  to  the  Nausets  than  to  the  western 
tribes  of  the  Wampanoag  federation,  which  seem  to 
have  centered  about  the  Pokanokets.  They  were 
all  Algonquins,  and  probably,  originally  all  of  the 
Totem  of  the  Wolf,  the  various  subdivisions  result- 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


71 


ing  from  the  spreading  out  process  by  which  a group 
became  separated  from  the  parent  stock,  thus  form- 
ing a nation  within  the  family,  and  eventually  ac- 
quiring a distinct  dialect;  and  no  doubt,  in  many 
instances,  absorbing  tribes  that  had  originally 
formed  a part  of  some  other  wave  of  migration,  and 
so  belonged  to  some  other  nation. 

In  any  event,  the  Nausets,  with  all  the  other 
tribes  on  the  cape  and  the  islands,  were,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  Wampanoags  at  the  time  of 
their  demonstration  against  the  crew  of  the  shallop 
on  December  8,  1620;  and  so  it  was  the  Wampa- 
noags who  first  greeted  the  Pilgrims,  though  the 
greeting  was  far  from  being  a welcome,  the  actual 
welcome  being  extended  nearly  three  months  later 
by  a sagamore  of  Monhigan  “two  days’  sail  with  a 
strong  wind”  to  the  northeast. 

If  our  conclusion  as  to  the  reasonable  inferences 
to  be  drawn  from  the  writings  of  early  historians  is 
correct,  this  would  place  him  in  the  group  desig- 
nated by  Gookin,  Drake,  and  Schoolcraft  as  Abe- 
naki. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  in  general  terms 
to  the  location  of  the  Wampanoags  as  described  by 
Gookin  and  Drake,  but  some  doubt  exists  as  to  the 
exact  extent  of  their  territory.  All  are  agreed  that 
they  held  sway  from  the  Islands  and  Cape  Cod  to 
Narragansett  Bay  and  Providence  River,  and  from 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  north  to  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  Massachusetts,  who  as  we  have  seen  lived 
around  the  bay  that  bears  their  name.  Just  where 
that  boundary  ran  is  not  clear,  but  it  is  certain  that 


72 


MASSASOIT 


the  counties  of  Nantucket,  Dukes,  Barnstable,  Ply- 
mouth, Bristol,  and  a considerable  part  of  Norfolk, 
in  Massachusetts,  together  with  all  of  Bristol  and 
Newport  counties  and  the  town  of  East  Providence 
in  Rhode  Island  have  been  carved  out  of  the  ancient 
hunting  grounds  of  the  Wampanoags. 

Colonel  Caverly,  who  has  written  a very  interest- 
ing account  of  the  early  Indian  wars  in  New  Eng- 
land, seems  to  extend  the  territory  or  dominion  of 
the  Wampanoags  much  further  than  any  other 
writer  with  whose  works  I am  familiar,  and  further, 
I fear,  than  there  is  any  well  grounded  warrant  for, 
as  he  speaks  of  the  Massachusetts  as  being  of  that 
federation,  as  though  the  fact  were  established  be- 
yond peradventure,  and  at  least  suggests  that 
Massasoit’s  rule  extended  to  and  covered  the  Pen- 
nacooks,  speaking  of  Passaconaway  as  holding  sway 
“under,  from  and  after  Massasoit,  from  the  Penob- 
scot to  the  Merrimack.”  As  we  have  already  seen, 
Gookin,  who  wrote  only  fifty-three  years  after  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  speaks  of  the  Massachusetts 
and  the  Pawtuckets  or  Pennacooks  as  independent 
federations,  and  it  is  probable  that  their  relations 
with  the  Wampanoags  were  nothing  more  than 
those  of  allies. 

Great  as  is  the  uncertainty  concerning  the  exact 
limits  of  their  territory,  their  numerical  strength  at 
the  time  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  is  wrapped 
in  even  greater  obscurity  and  doubt.  Two  recent 
events,  however,  had  reduced  them  to  a mere  ves- 
tige of  their  former  power.  The  first  of  these  was 
a raid  of  the  Tarratines,  the  conflicting  opinions  of 


THE  WAMPANOAGS  73 

whose  identity  and  location  I have  attempted  to 
reconcile  in  part  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  exact  location  of  the  Tarratines  is  of  interest 
at  this  time  only  as  it  directs  our  attention  to  the 
distances  which  they  traveled  in  making  their  raids 
upon  the  Massachusetts  coast;  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  by  water,  and 
much  further  by  land.  If  the  raids  were  made  by 
water,  as  seems  probable,  it  certainly  shows  the 
Tarratines  to  have  been  daring  navigators,  when 
one  considers  the  character  of  their  craft,  as  far  as 
known.  It  is  recorded  by  men  who  received  their 
information  at  first  hand  that  they  swept  down  on 
the  coast  tribes  of  eastern  Massachusetts  in  1615  or 
1616  and  inflicted  severe  losses  upon  them.  These 
tribes  were  of  the  Massachusetts  and  Wampanoags, 
and  while  the  extent  of  the  ravages  of  the  invaders 
is  not  certainly  known,  there  is  no  doubt  that  this 
raid  considerably  weakened  these  two  federations, 
as  it  is  claimed  by  some  that  they  swept  clear  across 
the  Wampanoag  country  and  attacked  the  Narra- 
gansetts.  This  method  of  securing  a livelihood  by 
wresting  from  their  neighbors  the  fruits  of  their  toil 
rather  than  by  relying  exclusively  upon  their  own 
systematic  efforts  to  sustain  themselves  by  the  pur- 
suit of  the  usual  vocations  of  their  kind,  hunting, 
fishing  and  the  crude  cultivation  of  the  soil,  appears 
to  have  been  characteristic  of  them,  for  Bradford 
records  the  fact  that  on  September  18,  1621,  the 
Plymouth  settlers  sent  out  their  shallop  with  ten 
men,  and  Squanto  as  guide  to  trade  with  the 
Massachusetts,  and  to  explore  the  bay;  that  they 


74 


MASSASOIT 


accomplished  their  purpose  and  “found  kind  en- 
tertainment. The  people  were  much  afraid  of  the 
Tarrentines,  a people  to  the  eastward  which  used 
to  come  in  harvest  time  and  take  away  their  corne, 
and  many  times  kill  their  persons.” 

The  second,  and  by  far  more  disastrous  visitation 
that  ravaged  the  land  of  the  Wampanoags,  was  a 
devastating  pestilence  which  followed  close  on  the 
heels  of  the  Tarratine  raid,  and  worked  such  havoc 
among  the  natives,  who  had  no  skill  to  combat  it, 
that  the  early  visitors  from  Plymouth  to  Massasoit’s 
town  Sowams,  speak  of  seeing  their  bones  in  large 
numbers  scattered  along  the  route,  the  living  not 
being  able  to  bury  the  dead.  The  Patuxet  tribe 
which  had  occupied  the  territory  around  Plymouth, 
was  almost  entirely  wiped  out  by  this  plague,  the 
exact  character  of  which  has  never  been  definitely 
determined.  While  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Wam- 
panoags were  reduced  by  these  two  agencies  to  a 
mere  shadow  of  their  former  strength  and  power, 
there  is  so  much  conflict  between  the  writers  of  old 
times  concerning  their  numbers  at  the  time  of  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims  that  we  are  left  almost  en- 
tirely to  conjecture  concerning  the  matter.  Certain 
facts,  however,  have  been  handed  down  upon  such 
reliable  authority,  that  perhaps  a careful  considera- 
tion of  those  indisputable  facts  will  justify  us  in 
making  our  own  estimate;  and  this  leads  us  to  an 
examination  of  the  extreme  claims.  I am  unable  to 
find  that  any  contemporary  writers  have  left  any 
word  from  which  we  would  be  justified  in  assuming 
that  anything  like  an  accurate  estimate  of  their 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


75 


numbers  was  ever  made  or  attempted  by  the  early 
colonists;  so  perhaps  we  may  fairly  conclude  that 
the  truth  of  the  matter  lies  somewhere  between  the 
two  extremes.  Some  authors,  who  put  out  their 
works  with  the  intent  to  convey  exact  information 
to  their  readers,  tell  us  that  this  federation  num- 
bered not  more  than  three  hundred  in  1620,  having 
been  reduced  to  this  state  from  a former  strength 
variously  estimated  at  anywhere  from  eighteen 
thousand  to  thirty  thousand,  their  five  thousand 
warriors  mentioned  by  some,  leaning  towards  the 
higher  rather  than  the  lower  of  these  two  figures. 
This  three  hundred  may  be  construed  in  so  many 
ways  that  before  rejecting  it  as  an  absurdity,  it  may 
be  well  to  consider  to  what  the  number  may  have 
referred.  If  by  it  is  meant  the  entire  numerical 
strength  of  the  federation,  it  seems  to  be  capable 
of  complete  refutation,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
it  is  limited  to  the  warriors  rather  than  the  entire 
tribal  membership,  it  is  open  to  grave  doubt.  An- 
other view  is  that  it  may  have  been  intended  to  be 
confined  to  the  village  where  their  Great  Sachem 
maintained  his  lodge,  or  to  the  three  villages  between 
which  he  seems  to  have  divided  a large  part  of  his 
time.  Before  proceeding  to  a more  general  discus- 
sion of  the  numerical  strength  of  the  tribe  or  federa- 
tion, let  us  look  for  a moment  at  these  three  villages. 
We  find  Massasoit  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  Sa- 
chem of  the  Pokanokets.  Pokanoket  is  or  was  the 
geographical  name  of  all  that  territory  now  in- 
cluded in  the  towns  of  Bristol,  Warren,  Barrington 
and  East  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  parts  of 


76 


MASSASOIT 


Swansea,  Rehoboth  and  Seekonk,  Massachusetts. 
The  Great  Sachem  seems  to  have  had  a more  inti- 
mate connection  with  this  portion  of  his  domain 
than  with  other  parts;  and  while  the  tribes  in  other 
localities  had  their  sub-sachems  or  sagamores,  who 
acknowledged  some  sort  of  allegiance  to  the  Great 
Chief,  there  is  nothing  from  which  we  would  be 
justified  in  inferring  that  the  Pokanokets  were  under 
the  direction  or  control  of  any  of  these  secondary 
chiefs;  and  it  may  well  be  that  the  Great  Sachem 
of  the  Wampanoags  either  in  Massasoit’s  early  days, 
or  in  the  time  of  some  of  his  predecessors,  was 
simply  the  sachem  of  the  Pokanokets,  with  hunting 
grounds  limited  to  the  territory  already  defined; 
and  that  at  some  time  a federation  of  related, 
neighboring  and  conquered  tribes  was  formed  under 
the  name  Wampanoag,  and  that  he  retained  the 
government  of  his  original  tribe,  and  governed  the 
other  tribes  through  their  sachems.  It  would  be 
extremely  interesting  reading  for  us  of  later  genera- 
tions if  some  savant  of  the  early  colonial  period 
could  have  sufficiently  secured  the  confidence  of  the 
contemporary  mystery  men  of  the  aborigines  to 
have  learned  from  them  the  secrets  which  their 
predecessors  "talked  into  the  sacred  wampum  rec- 
ords” and  thus  handed  down  from  father  to  son. 
From  such  sources  much  of  historic  value  might 
have  been  learned  for  transmission  to  posterity, 
much  more  than  the  world  knows  of  Indian  legend 
and  tradition.  But  the  men  who  came  here  came 
not  as  seekers  after  knowledge  concerning  the  char- 
acter of  the  country,  its  geological  formations,  its 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


77 


plants,  its  animals,  or  its  primitive  human  deni- 
zens, and  most  of  the  information  that  has  been 
gleaned  along  the  latter  lines,  has  come  from  the 
legends  and  traditions  passed  along  by  the  natives 
to  the  whites  at  later  dates  after  the  tribes  into 
whose  past  we  endeavor  to  penetrate  through  the 
dark  clouds  of  obscurity  and  doubt  had  been  almost 
or  quite  exterminated.  So  while  the  plants  and 
flowers,  the  rocks  and  the  wild  animals  have  re- 
mained to  tell  their  own  story,  unfortunately,  we 
are  left  in  darkness  concerning  many  of  the  things 
we  fain  would  know  about  the  primitive  race  that 
has  been  swept  away  by  the  invaders.  We  are  left 
largely  to  conjecture:  and  can  only  draw  what 
seem  to  us  to  be  reasonable  inferences  from  known 
facts.  In  the  Pokanoket  country,  there  were  three 
principal  villages  all  of  which  are  sometimes  men- 
tioned as  Massasoit’s  dwelling  places,  and  in  and 
about  which  he  undoubtedly  spent  more  of  his  time 
than  in  other  parts  of  his  domain,  although  he  un- 
questionably resorted  to  the  other  portions  for 
hunting  and  fishing  and  for  conferences  with  his  sub- 
sachems. These  three  villages  were  Sowams,  prob- 
ably where  Warren  now  stands,  although  some  place 
it  farther  west,  and  their  contention  seems  to  be 
supported  by  an  ancient  map;  but  Gen.  Guy  Fes- 
senden and  Virginia  Baker  have  made  out  such  a 
strong  case  for  the  Warren  site  that  I do  not  pro- 
pose to  enter  into  any  further  discussion  of  the 
question;  Montaup,  corrupted  by  the  English  into 
Mount  Hope  in  Bristol,  Rhode  Island;  and  Kicke- 
muit  on  the  river  of  the  same  name,  and  within  the 


78 


MASSASOIT 


limits  of  the  present  town  of  Swansea,  Massachu- 
setts. 

Let  us  now  return  to  a further  consideration  of 
the  numerical  strength  of  the  Wampanoags  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century;  and,  having 
referred  briefly  to  what  we  may  properly  consider 
the  minimum  estimate,  we  will  pass  to  the  other 
extreme,  and  then  by  examining  all  the  known  facts, 
see  what  appears  to  be  the  reasonable  conclusion  to 
be  drawn  from  those  facts,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  an  accurate  estimate,  which  could  be 
of  no  particular  benefit,  but  for  the  purpose  of 
properly  appraising  the  value  of  the  friendship  of 
Massasoit  to  the  early  settlers;  for  it  must  be  ap- 
parent that  that  value  would  be  determined  in  part 
by  his  strength  and  standing  among  the  various 
tribes.  We  may  well  begin  this  line  of  inquiry  by 
taking  the  testimony  of  Captain  Thomas  Dermer, 
master  of  a vessel  sailing  here  for  trade  and  explo- 
ration. Captain  Dermer  was  on  the  New  England 
coast  in  1619,  probably  not  for  the  first  time.  It 
was  with  him  that  Squanto  returned  to  his  native 
land  after  spending  some  years  in  England.  In 
1619,  with  Squanto  as  interpreter,  he  traveled  in- 
land to  Nemasket,  now  Middleboro,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  held  an  interview  with  two  “Kings  of 
Pokanoket”  of  which  we  shall  see  more  hereafter. 
In  a letter  to  a friend  dated  June  20,  1620,  Dermer 
wrote  that  “Squanto  was  carried  away  from  a place 
that  on  Captain  John  Smith’s  map  is  called  Pli- 
moth,”  and  that  “the  Pocanawits”  (Pokanokets) 
“which  live  to  the  west  of  Plimoth  bear  an  in- 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


79 


veterate  malice  to  the  English,  and  are  of  more 
strength  than  all  the  savages  from  thence  to  the 
Penobscote.”  Dermer  must  have  secured  this 
knowledge  from  some  of  the  natives,  and  it  may 
not  be  amiss  to  inquire  into  the  possible  sources  of 
his  information  and  the  time.  To  begin  with  the 
latter,  I call  particular  attention  to  the  date  of  the 
letter  and  to  Dermer’s  voyage  in  1619  and  his  prob- 
able earlier  trips  to  the  New  World.  He  had  un- 
doubtedly come  in  contact  with  the  various  tribes 
along  the  coast  from  whom  he  may  have  learned 
about  the  Pokanokets;  and  he  brought  Squanto 
with  him  in  1619  or  on  an  earlier  expedition. 
Squanto  spoke  English  and  was  a member  of  one 
of  the  small  tribes  of  the  Wampanoag  federation,  so 
it  is  extremely  probable  that  Dermer’s  information 
came  from  him.  Squanto  was  carried  away  in  1614 
before  the  pestilence  had  decimated  the  tribes  of 
eastern  Massachusetts,  and  if  the  information  was 
secured  from  this  source,  it  may  have  referred  to  con- 
ditions as  Squanto  knew  them  before  he  left  these 
parts.  This  is  especially  likely  to  have  been  the 
case  if  Squanto  first  came  over  with  Dermer  in 
1619  and  had  no  knowledge  of  the  ravages  of  the 
plague.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Dermer  remained 
long  in  this  vicinity  at  the  time  of  his  visit  to  Ne- 
masket,  he  must  have  learned  of  these  ravages,  and 
the  combined  strength  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  Wam- 
panoags  may  then  have  been  as  great  as  he  says  in 
his  letter  of  June  20,  1620.  There  is  one  important 
fact  that  lends  color  to  this  theory,  and  that  is 
that  the  voyage  inland  to  Nemasket  was  from 


80 


MASSASOIT 


Plymouth,  the  Patuxet  of  Squanto,  and  he,  finding 
his  own  tribe  wiped  out,  would  undoubtedly  have 
ascertained  the  cause  on  arriving  at  Nemasket,  even 
if  he  had  met  no  one  to  give  him  the  information 
before. 

However  that  may  have  been,  we  cannot  doubt 
the  testimony  of  Bradford  who  writes  that  on 
March  16,  1621,  Samoset,  after  welcoming  the  Eng- 
lish to  Patuxet,  and  being  entertained  by  them  over 
night,  told  them  of  a Great  Sachem,  “Massasoyt,” 
who  had  sixty  warriors  under  him,  and  left  them 
saying  he  would  bring  him  to  them.  On  March  22, 
the  Great  Chief  appeared  with  the  exact  number 
mentioned  by  Samoset. 

In  the  June  following,  when  Winslow  and  Hop- 
kins visited  him  at  Sowams  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
newing and  strengthening  the  ties  of  friendship 
between  him  and  the  colonists  and  to  secure  corn 
for  planting,  Massasoit,  speaking  to  an  assembly  of 
his  own  people,  said,  “Am  not  I Massasoit  com- 
mander of  the  country  round  you?  Is  not  such  a 
town  mine,  and  such  a town,  and  will  you  not  bring 
your  skins  to  the  English?”  In  this  way  naming 
more  than  thirty  villages,  according  to  Winslow. 

We  have  already  seen  that  on  December  8,  1620, 
the  Nausets  attacked  the  crew  of  the  Mayflower’s 
shallop,  and,  while  the  numbers  of  the  attacking 
party  are  not  mentioned,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
from  Bradford’s  description,  that  they  were  in  suffi- 
cient force  to  make  a considerable  demonstration 
and  cause  great  alarm  and  uneasiness,  and  Samoset 
is  said  to  have  told  the  English  that  Aspinet  had  one 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


81 


hundred  warriors.  In  addition  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Pokanoket  country  and  the  Nausets,  both  of 
which  we  have  briefly  discussed,  there  is  abundant 
evidence  that  there  were  tribes  of  no  mean  propor- 
tions at  Capawack  (Martha’s  Vineyard),  Manomet 
and  Monamoyick,  Sawkattucket,  Nobsquosset  and 
Matakes,  besides  that  on  Nantucket  Island,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Massasoit’s  domain;  at  Assawam- 
sett,  and  Nemasket,  at  Sakonnet  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  of  the  same  name,  and  at  Pocasset,  or  perhaps 
it  would  be  more  accurate  to  say  in  the  Sakonnet 
territory  and  the  Pocasset  territory,  for  the  former 
extended  over  the  southern  part  of  Tiverton  and  all 
of  Little  Compton,  Rhode  Island,  and  the  latter, 
lying  immediately  east  of  the  Pokanoket  territory, 
extended  from  Coles  River  in  Swansea  eastward  at 
least  four  miles  beyond  the  Taunton  River,  and 
from  the  narrows  in  the  Sakonnet  River,  where  the 
Tiverton  Stone  Bridge  now  stands,  northward  to 
the  northern  boundary  of  Freetown,  including  part 
of  Tiverton,  Rhode  Island,  all  of  Fall  River,  most 
of  Freetown,  and  parts  of  Berkley,  Dighton,  Somer- 
set and  Swansea,  Massachusetts.  The  Chief  of  this 
tribe  was  Corbitant,  of  whom  we  shall  see  more 
later,  who  resided  at  “Mettapuyst”  (Mettapoissett) 
now  Gardner’s  Neck  in  Swansea.  All  of  these  were 
probably  included  in  Massasoit’s  enumeration  of 
“more  than  thirty  villages,”  and  particular  atten- 
tion is  called  to  them  at  this  time,  because  there  is 
reason  for  believing  that  they  were  fairly  powerful 
tribes,  and  all  within  the  Wampanoag  federation.  I 
have  not  directed  particular  attention  to  the  Massa- 


82 


MASSASOIT 


chusetts,  because  there  may  be  some  question  of 
their  relation  to  the  Wampanoags,  whether  they 
were  of  them  or  only  allied  with  them,  the  weight  of 
the  evidence  pointing  rather  to  the  latter  idea  than 
to  the  former;  and  I have  disregarded  entirely 
Colonel  Caverly’s  statement  concerning  Passacon- 
away  as  previously  adverted  to;  nor  have  I made 
any  reference  to  the  tribes  of  the  Nipmucks  who 
were  subject  to  the  Great  Chief  of  the  Wampanoags. 

A careful  consideration  of  what  has  been  said  is 
sufficient  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  three 
hundred  mentioned  by  some  writers  as  all  that  re- 
mained of  the  thirty  thousand  Wampanoags  that 
escaped  the  plague  must  have  referred  to  the  war- 
riors of  Pokanoket  alone,  or  the  inhabitants  of 
Massasoit’s  village  of  Sowams.  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  have  mustered  the  sixty  warriors  who  accom- 
panied him  to  Plymouth  from  a total  tribal  mem- 
bership scattered  from  the  Cape  and  Islands  to  the 
Providence  River,  as  must  have  been  done  if  the 
entire  population  was  only  three  hundred;  and  it 
is  not  probable  that  Massasoit  would  leave  his 
women  and  children  totally  unguarded  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  none  too  friendly  Narragansetts  across 
the  river,  who  according  to  some  historians  had  in 
comparatively  recent  years  taken  advantage  of  his 
reduced  power  to  wage  war  upon  him,  and  had 
wrested  from  him  his  beautiful  island  of  Aquidnick. 
The  distance  from  Sowams  to  Plymouth  by  the  old 
Indian  trail  is  said  by  early  writers  to  have  been 
forty  miles,  and  the  three  days,  at  least,  required 
for  the  journey  out  and  back,  and  for  the  conference, 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


83 


would  be  a long  time  to  leave  his  village  unguarded 
if  the  Narragansetts  had  happened  to  make  a raid 
at  that  time.  What  probably  happened  was  this. 
Starting  out  on  an  expedition  the  outcome  of  which 
was  problematical,  Massasoit  most  likely  took  the 
“panieses,”  or  men  of  valor,  of  the  three  villages 
already  mentioned.  These  would  undoubtedly  be 
the  most  vigorous  and  active  of  the  men  who 
formed  the  war  council,  and,  at  the  same  time,  were 
the  warriors  who  followed  him  and  were  under  his 
immediate  command  when  on  the  war  path,  the 
warriors  of  the  other  tribes  of  the  federation  being 
under  the  immediate  command  of  their  sachems. 
If  this  theory  is  correct,  it  lends  color  to  the  infer- 
ence that  the  three  hundred  comprised  simply  the 
population  of  Sowams,  or  the  warriors  of  Pokanoket; 
and  it  may  well  be  that  the  writers  who  have  placed 
this  estimate  on  the  numerical  strength  of  the  Wam- 
panoags,  taking  into  account  the  well  known  fact 
that  every  place  of  considerable  importance  had  its 
sub-sachem  or  sagamore,  may  have  looked  upon  the 
people  of  Sowams,  or  possibly  of  Sowams  and  the 
territory  immediately  surrounding  it,  as  all  there 
was  of  the  true  Wampanoags;  but  I am  inclined  to 
believe  that  this  name  is  simply  the  appelation  of  a 
confederacy  of  which  the  Pokanokets  was  the  domi- 
nant tribe,  and  which  was  held  together  in  part  by 
the  strength  of  that  tribe,  and  in  part  by  the  neces- 
sity of  combining  to  prevent  the  inroads  of  invading 
enemies.  There  undoubtedly  also  existed  some 
closer  bond  of  relationship,  closer  family  ties  per- 
haps, among  most  of  the  federated  tribes  than 


84 


MASSASOIT 


between  them  and  other  branches  of  the  great 
Algonquin  family,  or  in  other  words  a true  Wam- 
panoag  Nation  with  subject  tribes.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence of  a single  tribe  of  this  name,  unless  it  was 
another  name  for  the  Pokanokets.  There  is  another 
possibility  that  should  not  be  overlooked  in  this 
connection,  and  that  is  that  Massasoit  may  have 
started  out  with  less  than  the  sixty  with  whom  he 
arrived  at  Plymouth  and  augmented  his  force  on 
the  way,  although  it  is  almost  certain  that  he  did 
not  draw  from  the  Pocassets,  because  there  is  very 
good  reason  for  supposing  that  Corbitant,  their  sa- 
chem, was  not  in  sympathy  with  Massasoit’s  design 
to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  English,  and  it  is 
equally  certain  that  Corbitant  was  a chief  of  such 
importance  that  his  presence  would  have  been 
noted,  had  he  been  of  the  party.  This  suggestion  is 
advanced  as  a remote  possibility,  but  that  it  is 
hardly  more  than  that  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
Samoset  spoke  of  Massasoit  as  having  sixty  warriors 
under  him  and  that  was  the  number  that  appeared 
with  him. 

The  Pocassets,  as  we  have  already  seen,  formed 
one  of  the  most  important  branches  or  subdivisions 
of  the  Wampanoag  federation.  Their  exact  nu- 
merical strength  is  almost  as  much  in  doubt  as  is 
that  of  the  entire  branch  of  the  Algonquin  family  to 
which  the  name  “Wampanoag”  is  applied,  although 
there  is  reliable  authority  for  the  claim  frequently 
advanced  that  Corbitant,  their  Sachem  in  1620, 
could  muster  three  hundred  warriors,  and  estimat- 
ing one  warrior  to  five  members  of  the  tribe,  this 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


85 


would  give  them  a total  of  fifteen  hundred,  which  is 
probably  as  near  as  it  is  possible  to  estimate  the 
strength  of  any  of  the  tribes.  They  lived  in  the  ter- 
ritory immediately  east  of  the  Pokanoket  country, 
and  their  numbers  and  close  proximity  to  Massa- 
soit’s  own  tribe,  together  with  the  personality  of 
then-  sachem,  furnishes  a reason  for  singling  them 
out  for  particular  mention  at  this  time.  Corbitant 
was  a man  of  considerable  importance,  as  indeed 
any  map  who  could  command  three  hundred  war- 
riors would  be  in  the  Wampanoag  nation,  weakened 
as  it  was  by  the  raid  of  the  Tarratines  and  the 
plague.  He  was  not  always  in  sympathy  with  some 
of  Massasoit’s  moves,  and  his  known  hostility  and 
independent  scheming  naturally  lead  us  to  inquire 
whether  the  strength  of  the  Wampanoags  has  not 
been  greatly  underestimated  by  some,  the  reason- 
able inference  being  that  Corbitant  might  quite 
naturally  be  expected  to  lead  an  open  revolt  if  there 
had  been  any  chance  of  success,  the  natives  not 
being  held  in  check  by  any  doctrine  of  the  divine 
rights  of  kings,  and  not  looking  upon  the  persons 
of  their  Great  Chiefs  as  being  endowed  with  any 
particular  sanctity.  Corbitant,  while  maintaining 
friendly  relations  with  the  whites  apparently  did  it 
more  as  the  part  of  political  wisdom  than  through  a 
desire  to  encourage  and  aid  them.  He  was  un- 
doubtedly the  sachem  who  was  with  Massasoit  in 
his  sickness  in  1623,  the  day  before  Winslow  arrived 
at  Sowams,  and  sought  to  arouse  Massasoit’s  hos- 
tility to  the  English  saying  as  Winslow  writes,  “if 
we  had  been  as  good  friends  indeed  as  we  were  now 


86 


MASSASOIT 


in  show,  we  would  have  visited  him  in  this  his 
sickness,  using  many  arguments  to  withdraw  his 
affections,  and  to  persuade  him  to  give  way  to  some 
things  against  us,  which  were  motioned  to  him  not 
long  before.”  Winslow  does  not  mention  the  name 
of  this  sachem,  but  enough  is  known  of  Corbitant 
to  lead  to  the  belief  that  it  was  he.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  this  visit  to  Massasoit,  Winslow  stopped  at 
“Mattapuyst”  with  Corbitant  on  his  way  to  So- 
wams;  and  after  his  mission  was  accomplished,  and 
Massasoit  sufficiently  recovered  so  that  his  friends 
returned  to  their  homes,  he  went  to  Corbitant’s 
lodge  with  him  and  spent  the  night  there.  He 
speaks  of  the  Chief  as  a “notable  politician,  yet  full 
of  merry  jests  and  squibs,  and  never  better  pleased 
than  when  the  like  are  returned  upon  him.”  Cor- 
bitant was  one  of  the  eight  sachems  who  ac- 
knowledged themselves  subjects  of  King  James 
in  September  1621,  his  name  being  written  Caun- 
bitant  on  that  document. 

Wamsutta,  or  Mooanam,  Massasoit’s  oldest  son, 
married  Weetamo,  supposed  to  be  the  daughter  of 
Corbitant;  and,  undoubtedly  in  right  of  his  wife, 
seems  to  have  exercised  some  authority  over  the 
Pocassets  after  Corbitant’s  death.  In  1659  he 
joined  with  other  Indians  in  a grant  of  a tract  of 
land  covering  all  of  what  is  now  Freetown  and 
more  than  half  of  Fall  River  to  twenty-six  pur- 
chasers who  were  free  men  and  from  whom  the 
purchase  is  known  in  history  as  the  Freemen’s  pur- 
chase. Weetamo  is  frequently  referred  to  as  the 
Squaw  Sachem  of  the  Pocassets,  and  we  will  have 


THE  WAMPANOAGS  87 

occasion  to  refer  to  her  again,  as  well  as  to  the  part 
played  by  the  Pocassets  in  King  Philip’s  war. 

The  Wampanoags  and  the  Narragansetts  appear 
to  have  made  more  progress  towards  civilization 
than  most  of  the  other  Indian  tribes,  except  possibly 
the  Iroquois  League  of  Northern  New  York.  Mas- 
sasoit  dwelt  in  a lodge  at  Sowams  of  a much  more 
substantial  character  than  the  ordinary  tepees,  and 
Corbitant  undoubtedly  had  a similar  residence  at 
Mettapoisett.  There  is  still  shown  in  the  town  of 
Warren  the  Pokanoket’s  grist  mill,  consisting  of  a 
natural  flat  table  rock  into  which  grooves  have  been 
cut  or  worn  by  use,  where  the  women  of  the  tribe 
ground  their  corn  by  rolling  round  stones  over  it, 
these  movable  stones  being  operated  by  rolling  them 
like  a wheel  about  a shaft  thrust  through  a hole 
drilled  in  the  center.  From  the  meal  thus  pro- 
duced they  made  the  Rhode  Island  Johnny  cakes, 
the  counterparts  of  which  still  tickle  the  palates  of 
the  descendents  of  the  women  who  learned  the  art 
of  making  them  from  the  Indian  women  of  almost 
three  centuries  ago.  The  Rhode  Island  clambake, 
the  mere  mention  of  which  is  still  sufficient  to  call 
together  a multitude  wherever  that  famous  repast 
is  known,  had  its  origin  with  one  or  the  other  of 
these  tribes  and  was  known  to  both.  The  Indian 
method  of  preparing  it  is  still  recognized  as  the  one 
method  that  gives  it  the  peculiar  flavor  that  cannot 
be  secured  in  any  other  way;  that  method  consist- 
ing of  heating  rocks  by  building  fires  upon  them, 
and  then  removing  the  embers  and  placing  clams, 
fish  and  green  corn  upon  the  rocks  and  covering 


88 


MASSASOIT 


them  with  seaweed  to  hold  the  heat  until  the  whole 
is  thoroughly  cooked.  Agriculture  they  had  de- 
veloped to  a greater  extent  than  most  tribes,  for 
while  their  cultivation  of  the  soil  was  crude,  they 
adopted  artificial  fertilization,  which  they  taught  to 
the  whites  as  we  shall  hereafter  see;  and  they  raised 
corn  and  beans  in  abundance  from  which  they  made 
succotash,  a dish  originating  with  them;  and  they 
had  made  some  progress  in  the  potter’s  art.  The 
Pokanokets  constructed  on  the  banks  of  the  Kicke- 
muit  River  a bath  to  which  they  resorted  for  the 
cure  of  the  ills  that  assailed  them,  and  there  is  reason 
for  believing  that  both  they  and  the  Narragansetts 
had  others  of  a like  character  in  other  places.  This 
bath  consisted  of  a structure  built  of  non-com- 
bustible materials  or  cut  in  the  clay  banks,  and  was 
heated  in  the  same  manner  as  that  employed  in 
preparing  the  clambake  for  cooking  as  already  out- 
lined. In  this  building  they  then  sat  and  smoked 
while  the  perspiration  rolled  down  their  dusky 
bodies,  concluding  with  a plunge  in  the  river. 

Such  was  the  federation  that  occupied  the  land 
surrounding  the  place  at  which  that  little  band  of 
devoted  pilgrims  first  set  foot  on  the  New  World. 
They  had  fled  from  England  to  Holland  that  they 
might  escape  the  rigorous  discipline  of  the  estab- 
lished church,  and  exercise  their  own  free  will  in  the 
matter  of  religious  worship;  but  Holland  was  not 
their  destination;  it  was  simply  the  place  of  a tem- 
porary sojourn,  until  the  hand  of  destiny  led  them 
across  the  dark  waters  in  search  of  a broader  field 
of  endeavor.  WTe  are  sometimes  impressed  with  a 


THE  WAMPANOAGS 


89 


belief  that  they  were  the  instruments  of  fate  sent 
hither  to  establish  in  the  newly  discovered  western 
hemisphere  a new  order,  out  of  which,  eventually, 
there  was  destined  to  arise  a greater  freedom,  a 
broader  humanity,  than  the  world  had  before  known. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  they,  in  their  zeal,  speak  of 
their  escapes  from  the  extraordinary  perils  that  be- 
set them  both  on  the  water  in  their  frail  bark,  and 
subsequently  on  the  land,  as  due  to  the  special  dis- 
pensation of  Divine  Providence.  Their  safe  pass- 
age of  the  stormy  sea  in  late  autumn;  their  landing 
at  a place  the  entire  population  of  which  had  been 
wiped  out,  thus  reducing  to  a minimum  the  prob- 
ability of  molestation  by  natives  who  had  no  reason 
to  love  the  English,  no  reason  to  look  upon  them  in 
any  light  but  that  of  marauders  who  might  without 
provocation  and  without  warning  attack  them  with 
their  terrible  weapons  of  fire  and  thunder,  or  carry 
them  away  into  slavery  as  had  been  done  before; 
and  the  kindly  greeting  they  received  after  their 
first  unpleasant  encounter  with  the  natives,  all  con- 
spire to  impel  us  of  this  more  skeptical  age  to  in- 
dulge them  in  attributing  this  first  successful  issue 
of  their  venture  to  the  intervention  of  the  hand  that 
guided  the  tribes  of  Israel  through  their  many  trib- 
ulations, until,  purified  by  the  fire  of  adversity, 
they  arose  triumphant  and  bore  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  into  the  Promised  Land.  If  there  was  one 
thing  more  than  another,  or  more  than  all  others, 
that  showed  the  protecting  hand  of  Providence,  it 
was  the  disposition  of  the  Great  Sachem  of  the 
Wampanoags  and  his  people  to  extend  to  the 


90 


MASSASOIT 


strangers  the  right  hand  of  friendship,  and  to  dwell 
side  by  side  with  them  in  amity  for  half  a century; 
for  until  the  outbreak  of  King  Philip’s  war,  there 
was  no  serious  trouble  between  the  whites  and  the 
Wampanoags.  Minor  outbreaks  and  personal  acts 
of  violence  there  were,  but,  in  general,  they  lived 
side  by  side  in  peace  and  security,  and  while  there 
were  discords,  suspicions  and  wars  with  others,  the 
Wampanoags,  under  the  guiding  hand  of  their 
Great  Sachem  Massasoit,  remained  faithful  to  their 
treaty  obligations. 


V 


MASSASOIT 
Born  1580  — Died  1661 

IT  is  as  a man  of  peace  that  we  know  Massasoit, 
Great  Sachem  of  the  Wampanoags.  There  is 
nothing  in  his  career  as  far  as  it  is  revealed  by  the 
white  man's  history,  to  appeal  to  the  fiery  ardor  and 
enthusiasm  of  youth  like  the  exploits  of  his  son 
Pometacom  or  Metacomet,  the  King  Philip  of  his- 
tory, or  Red  Jacket,  Joseph  Brant,  Pontiac,  Tecum- 
seh  or  scores  of  others  whose  deeds  of  valor  have 
fired  the  imagination  and  thrilled  the  hearts  of  our 
young  men  for  generations;  but  to  the  man  in 
middle  life,  whose  blood  has  been  cooled  to  some 
extent  by  the  snows  of  many  winters,  to  the  student 
of  human  character,  there  is  something  about  the 
calm  and  dignified  demeanor  of  that  great  chief  that 
brings  a feeling  of  regret  that  the  colonists  should 
have  looked  upon  the  continued  existence  of  his  race 
as  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  the  fruition  of  their 
ambitious  designs,  and  should  have  considered  it 
necessary  to  exterminate  a race  which  by  its  own 
unaided  efforts,  through  ages  of  slow  development 
with  no  contact  with  the  enlightenment  of  the  old 
world  attained  through  eons  of  labored  progress, 
with  no  guiding  hand  to  assist  it  in  its  groping 

91 


92 


MASSASOIT 


towards  the  light,  had  made  sufficient  advancement 
along  the  paths  of  civilization  to  produce  such  a 
man. 

I am  aware  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  super- 
ficial readers  of  early  American  history  have  con- 
cluded that  the  Indian  tribes  of  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  wiped  out  in  a 
cruel  and  unprovoked  war  begun  by  King  Philip  in 
open  violation  of  the  treaty  his  father  had  made 
with  Governor  Carver  of  the  Plymouth  Colony; 
but  the  man  who  holds  this  view  cannot  have  ' 
looked  into  the  violations  of  that  treaty  by  the 
whites,  and  takes  no  account  of  the  long  list  of 
aggressions  against  the  natives  in  violation  of  the 
spirit  of  the  treaty  if  not  of  its  letter.  The  great 
cause  of  that  bloody  war  was  the  tendency  on  the 
part  of  the  colonists  to  treat  the  Indians  as  a sub- 
ject race  to  whom  they  owed  no  duty,  who  were  in 
then'  way,  and  whom  they  were  at  liberty  to  annoy 
constantly  in  every  conceivable  manner.  If  they 
had  set  out  with  a determination  to  arouse  the  na- 
tives to  declare  war,  in  order  that  they  might  use 
the  hostilities  thus  begun  as  an  excuse  for  exter- 
minating them,  they  could  not  have  succeeded  more 
admirably.  When  we  consider  the  wonderful  sa- 
gacity, the  political  wisdom  of  Massasoit’s  move  in 
seeking  to  establish  friendly  relations  with  the 
invaders  of  his  soil  and  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
two  races  to  live  side  by  side  in  peace  and  harmony, 
instead  of  sounding  the  alarm  and  calling  his  trusty 
warriors  about  him  to  expel  the  foreign  foe,  we  can- 
not fail  to  be  impressed  with  his  foresight,  based,  as 


MASSASOIT 


93 


it  was,  upon  his  knowledge  of  men  in  a wild  and 
natural  state,  and  unacquainted  with  the  arts  and 
wiles  of  civilization.  That  his  judgment  was  in 
error,  and  his  confidence  misplaced  was  no  fault  of 
his,  but  the  misfortune  of  his  people.  Had  the 
colonists  shown  half  the  regard  for  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty  they  made  with  him,  and  for  the  obligations 
they  thereby  assumed  towards  him  and  his,  that  he 
manifested  during  the  forty  years  of  his  life  after  its 
signing,  what  a different  story  would  the  annals  of 
New  England  tell  today.  It  is  almost  enough  to 
bring  the  blush  of  shame  to  the  white  man’s  cheek 
to  recount  the  story  of  colonial  perfidy  towards  the 
friendly  Wampanoags  and  Narragansetts,  once  the 
story  is  stripped  of  the  cant  with  which  it  has  been 
decked  out  and  which  we  have  been  too  accustomed 
to  regard  as  religious  zeal. 

Zealots  the  Pilgrims  were,  religious  fanatics,  rival- 
ing the  janizaries  of  the  Moslem  world,  seeking  a 
place  where  they  might  enjoy  religious  freedom  and 
celebrating  then*  success  by  denying  to  others  the 
freedom  they  sought  to  establish  for  themselves. 
They  allowed  no  fine  scruples  of  decency  and  honor 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  spurring  on  to  their  death  a 
race  that  seemed  to  them  to  be  an  impediment  to 
their  material  progress.  They  converted  what  they 
could  by  preaching  the  word,  and  stopped  at  no 
savage  cruelty  to  wipe  but  what  they  could  not 
convert.  Their  most  eminent  divines  exulted  over 
the  defeat  of  the  men  who  had  been  their  friends, 
but  whom  they  had  betrayed  so  often  that  their 
friendship  had  been  turned  to  hostility.  The  chil- 


94 


MASSASOIT 


dren  of  the  forest,  following  the  strongest  instinct  in 
the  human  breast,  and  fighting  for  their  own  preser- 
vation and  the  protection  of  home  and  fireside,  were 
ruthlessly  slaughtered  by  the  men  between  whom 
and  annihilation  they  had  interposed  their  naked 
breasts,  and  whose  priests  boasted  of  the  number  of 
souls  they  ‘‘sent  to  hell”  in  some  battle  brought  on 
by  their  treatment  of  the  men  to  whom  they  had 
allied  themselves  by  the  most  solemn  ties.  Cant 
and  hypocrisy  have  ever  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
excessive  religious  zeal,  and  the  preachers  of  New 
England  furnished,  not  an  exception  to  the  rule,  but 
its  most  striking  example.  They  preached  the  word 
of  God  and  pretended  to  be  followers  of  the  humble 
Nazarene;  but  practiced  the  wiles  of  the  devil;  and 
rivaled  him  in  their  satanic  exultation  over  the  fate 
of  the  foes  they  made  by  their  diabolical  practices. 

There  was  bound  to  be  a conflict  between  Euro- 
pean and  Indian  methods  of  living.  The  two  could 
not  co-exist  on  the  same  soil.  The  two  races  could 
not  long  live  side  by  side  except  by  one  of  them 
conforming  to  the  mode  of  life  of  the  other.  It 
was  inevitable  that  the  country  must  be  all  savage 
or  all  civilized;  but  there  was  no  danger  to  Euro- 
pean ideals  and  civilization  in  trying  the  experiment 
of  leavening  the  whole  lump.  The  Indians  of  east- 
ern Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  had  shown 
sufficient  intelligence  and  sufficient  interest  in  Eng- 
lish customs  and  manners  of  living  to  warrant  a 
hope  for  a complete  reclamation  of  the  race.  True 
civilization  is  not  of  such  a quality  or  character 
that  it  is  in  danger  of  being  lost  by  extending  it  to 


MASSASOIT 


95 


cover  a broader  field  than  has  been  its  wont.  It  is 
a condition  that  is  strengthened  and  invigorated  by- 
propagation  and  extension.  It  was  no  more  in  dan- 
ger of  extinction  in  the  wilds  of  New  England  by 
bringing  the  natives  within  its  enlightening  influ- 
ence, than  is  the  light  of  the  sun  of  being  extin- 
guished by  turning  it  into  hitherto  unexplored 
regions  of  darkness. 

The  Pilgrims  brought  with  them  the  seed  from 
which,  by  careful  culture,  has  developed  our  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  They  planted  and  nourished 
it  here,  even  though  they  were  themselves  as  in- 
tolerant of  others  as  were  those  from  whom  they 
fled,  of  them.  It  is  characteristic  of  freedom  that 
it  grows  and  flourishes  under  adversity.  The 
greater  the  opposition,  the  stronger  the  growth, 
even  though  temporarily  checked  by  the  heavy 
hand  of  oppression;  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  the 
founders  of  our  liberties  should  have  considered  it 
necessary  to  water  the  seed  they  planted  with  the 
blood  of  nature’s  freemen. 

The  liberty  that  cannot  flourish  without  enslav- 
ing another  is  not  worth  preserving,  and  the  Ameri- 
can people  through  long  years  of  toil  and  suffering 
learned  this  great  truth;  and,  out  of  the  limited 
freedom  established  by  the  colonies,  evolved  the 
only  true  freedom,  to  move  unfettered  and  un- 
trammelled as  far  as  can  be  done  without  interfer- 
ence with  the  equal  liberty  of  another.  If  the  early 
settlers  on  these  shores  had  recognized  this  eternal 
truth,  instead  of  leaving  it  to  their  posterity  to 
evolve  as  the  true  foundation  of  right  and  justice, 


96 


MASSASOIT 


the  story  of  their  injustice  would  never  have  been 
told.  But  all  human  progress  is  slow;  and  as  man 
cannot,  by  a single  bound,  reach  the  mountain  top, 
so  a race  cannot  at  once  spring  from  darkness  into 
perfect  light. 

I would  not  detract  from  the  stern  virtues  of  the 
men  who  laid  the  foundations  of  our  free  institu- 
tions, the  planters  who  labored  early  and  late  that 
we  might  reap  for  generations  in  greater  measure 
than  was  vouchsafed  to  them;  but,  remembering 
that  it  is  easier  to  sail  a charted  sea  than  to  thread 
one’s  way  among  the  rocks  and  shoals  of  an  un- 
known coast,  we  may  still  be  permitted  a measure 
of  criticism  of  the  methods  they  adopted  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  purpose.  Looking  back  upon 
the  scenes  of  the  long  ago,  one  knows  not  which 
most  to  admire,  the  pertinacity  with  which  the 
Christian  English  clung  to  the  establishment  of  then- 
ideals,  which,  illuminated  by  the  ever  increasing 
light  of  intellectual  freedom,  have  become  our 
ideals;  or  that  of  the  pagan  Indian,  who,  finding 
that  his  liberty  was  being  gradually  swallowed  up 
in  that  which  he  had  helped  the  English  to  estab- 
lish upon  his  lands,  turned  at  bay  and  attempted  to 
break  the  fetters  which  the  English  liberty  was 
forging  for  him  and  his. 

The  results  of  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers 
have  been  told  in  song  and  story;  they  have  been 
heralded  wherever  the  voice  of  men  is  heard;  they 
have  been  taught  to  lisping  children  at  their 
mothers’  knee,  and  have  been  the  theme  of  poets 
and  the  realization  of  the  dream  of  philosophers. 


MASSASOIT 


97 


I would  not  gainsay  them  if  I could;  I would  not 
turn  back  the  wheels  of  human  progress;  I would 
not  dim  the  lustre  of  one  ray  from  the  torch  of 
liberty  our  fathers  lighted,  and  which  has  burned 
brighter  with  each  succeeding  generation  until  its 
rays  have  penetrated  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth;  but  without  detracting  from  the  accom- 
plishments of  the  mighty  men  of  the  past,  I would 
do  honor  to  the  valiant  race  which,  seeing  its  liber- 
ties endangered  by  the  encroachments  of  the  men 
whom  it  had  welcomed,  sprang  to  arms  for  the 
defence  of  their  freedom,  with  a zeal  that  has  won 
our  commendation  wherever  displayed  by  civilized 
peoples  from  Marathon  to  the  Argonne.  I would 
pause  in  the  contemplation  of  the  glories  of  the 
past,  long  enough  to  deposit  a wreath  of  earth’s 
fairest  blossoms  upon  the  places  where  lie  buried  the 
hopes  and  aspirations  of  the  noblest  race  of  savages 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  I would  turn  aside  to  look 
upon  Sachem’s  Plain  and  Mount  Hope  with  a feel- 
ing of  regret  that  the  men  who  fell  there  could  not 
have  devoted  their  God  given  energy  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  dreams  of  living  with  their  white 
brethren  in  peace  and  harmony.  A race  that  could 
produce  a Massasoit  is  not  all  bad,  and  it  is  a mis- 
fortune to  the  world  that  the  good  that  was  in  it 
could  not  have  developed  side  by  side  with  the 
good  that  our  fathers  had  inherited  from  the 
memories  of  a thousand  years  of  upward  strug- 
gling towards  the  light. 

The  hand  of  Destiny  that  planted  the  seeds  of 
Freedom  for  you  and  me,  under  the  erring  guidance 


98 


MASSASOIT 


of  those  who  controlled  it  for  their  own  benefit, 
sowed  the  seeds  of  death  and  extermination  for  the 
simple  natives,  who  seemed  to  the  blind,  unreason- 
ing, or  cold,  calculating  men  of  darker  days  to 
block  the  wheels  of  their  progress.  With  no  other 
right  than  that  of  might,  they  swept  away  the 
last  vestige  of  a once  proud  and  powerful  people, 
preeminent  among  whom,  as  indeed  preeminent 
among  all  men  of  all  races  and  of  all  time,  stands 
the  man  to  whose  memory  these  lines  are  dedicated, 
Massasoit  the  Great  Sachem  of  the  Wampanoags. 
We  have  already  considered  the  probable  numerical 
strength  of  the  Pokanokets  and,  in  a general  way, 
that  of  the  federated  tribes,  calling  particular  at- 
tention to  the  Pocassets  and  Nausets  about  whom 
something  fairly  definite  is  known;  and  it  is  not 
my  purpose  to  make  further  comment  upon  that 
subject  except  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  emphasize 
or  illustrate  some  other  matter  that  seems  to  be  of 
sufficient  importance  to  warrant  trespassing  upon 
the  reader’s  patience  by  calling  attention  again  and 
again  to  the  situation  as  it  was  in  the  early  days  of 
the  colonial  fife  of  New  England,  and  particularly 
of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  And,  in  this  connection, 
no  sketch  of  Massasoit  would  be  quite  complete 
without  a brief  reference  to  the  fact  that  in  his 
earlier  days,  he  had  been  a great  war  chief  himself, 
or  at  least  the  head  of  a federation  capable  of  hold- 
ing its  own  against  the  tribes  that  were  undoubtedly 
attempting  from  time  to  time  to  make  inroads  upon 
its  hunting  grounds;  for  we  have  it  from  Captain 
Benjamin  Church,  who  was  General  Winslow’s  chief 


MASSASOIT 


99 


of  staff  in  King  Philip’s  war,  that  Annawon,  Philip’s 
great  captain,  after  his  capture,  boasted  of  his 
former  prowess  and  deeds  of  valor  when  serving 
under  Philip’s  father.  I use  the  expression,  a great 
war  chief  himself  or  the  head  of  a powerful  federa- 
tion, advisedly,  for  it  seems  to  be  clearly  estab- 
lished that  the  Great  Sachem,  or  Chief  of  Chiefs, 
of  the  Indian  federations,  while  the  head  of  the  civil 
government,  was  not  always  the  personal  leader  of 
his  warriors  in  battle,  that  duty  sometimes  devolv- 
ing upon  some  great  captain  who  had  distinguished 
himself  by  his  valor,  cunning  and  capacity  for  in- 
spiring and  handling  large  bodies  of  warriors.  To 
such  a captain  was  frequently  entrusted  the  con- 
duct or  personal  direction  of  the  wars  after  a plan  of 
campaign  had  been  agreed  upon  in  a council,  in- 
cluding all  the  chiefs  and  sagamores  together  with 
the  select  body  or  class  called  “paniese”  who  were 
the  chief  men  of  valor.  This  seems  particularly  to 
have  been  the  practice  among  the  Five  Nations  of 
the  Iroquois  League,  and  was  probably  the  occa- 
sional practice  with  the  other  federations,  although 
a careful  perusal  of  such  records  as  are  available 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Great  Sachem  him- 
self in  most  instances  personally  conducted  his  cam- 
paigns. We  do  not  have  to  look  far  for  a reason  for 
this.  From  our  knowledge  of  Indian  character,  we 
may  well  infer  that  the  Great  Chiefs  would  be  ex- 
tremely reluctant  to  relinquish  the  control  of  their 
warriors  to  a sub-chief  or  captain  through  fear  of 
loss  of  their  own  prestige  and  the  acquisition  of  too 
great  an  ascendency  on  the  part  of  their  captains, 


100 


MASSASOIT 


prowess  on  the  warpath  being  the  one  qualification 
that  would  appeal  most  strongly  to  the  Indian  tem- 
perament and  endear  a chief  to  his  people,  thus 
strengthening  his  hold  upon  them.  Consequently 
we  may  safely  conclude  that  before  he  had  been 
weakened  by  the  loss  of  his  people  through  the 
ravages  of  the  pestilence  of  1616-1617,  and  the 
raids  of  the  Tarratines  upon  his  outlying  tribes, 
Massasoit  was  himself  a noted  warrior.  Through 
the  agencies  enumerated  his  war  strength  had  been 
reduced  from  three  thousand  or  five  thousand  war- 
riors, there  being  authority  for  both  figures,  to  prob- 
ably one  thousand  or  twelve  hundred,  not  counting 
the  Nipmucks,  who  were  most  likely  governed  as 
conquered  tribes,  and  of  doubtful  value  in  war. 
That  they  were  not  of  the  closely  allied  or  related 
tribes,  but  were  looked  upon  as  inferiors,  is  fairly 
apparent  from  Massasoit’s  remark  to  Roger  Wil- 
liams, as  quoted  by  him  in  his  letter  to  Governor 
Winthrop  at  Boston,  which  will  appear  later.  I 
cannot  refrain  from  expressing  the  belief  that  my 
estimate  as  given  above  of  one  thousand  or  more  is 
fair;  and  in  this  connection,  I will  take  the  liberty 
of  digressing  again  from  the  subject  of  this  chapter 
to  make  another  of  those  little  side  trips  into  terri- 
tory that  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  been  explored 
when  we  were  inquiring  into  the  numerical  strength 
of  the  Wampanoags,  but  an  examination  of  which  is 
timely  in  connection  with  what  I have  just  said, 
and  in  the  consideration  of  Massasoit’s  readiness  to 
treat  with  the  colonists  and  the  importance  to  them 
of  that  friendly  disposition. 


MASSASOIT 


101 


At  the  time  of  Canonicus’  challenge  to  the  settlers 
in  November,  1621,  Bradford,  for  some  reason, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  his  desire  to 
“lord  it  over  the  weaker  Pokanokets  and  Massa- 
chusetts”; and,  from  what  we  know  of  that  wily 
and  ambitious  chief,  we  may  well  believe  that  Brad- 
ford’s suspicion,  even  if  it  was  nothing  more  than 
that,  was  well  founded.  The  Narragansetts  had 
escaped  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence,  and  Canonicus, 
taking  advantage  of  his  neighbor’s  weakness,  had  be- 
gun an  offensive  warfare  against  Massasoit,  and  had 
wrested  from  him  the  Island  of  Aquidnick.  This 
probably  could  be  accomplished  only  by  force;  but 
the  encounter  is  likely  to  have  been  limited  to  the 
occupants  of  the  island,  with  possibly  such  assist- 
ance as  could  be  hurried  to  them  from  tribes  in 
close  proximity.  The  wars  among  the  natives  were 
undoubtedly  of  short  duration,  a single  combat 
sometimes  deciding  the  issue,  and  it  might  well 
happen  that  Canonicus  could  muster  his  warriors  in 
sufficient  force  to  conquer  the  island  before  any 
assistance  could  reach  its  people,  and  to  hold  it 
against  any  attempts  of  the  weakened  Wampanoags 
to  retake  it.  According  to  the  best  authorities, 
from  three  to  four  thousand  warriors  stood  ready 
to  take  up  the  War  Cry  of  Canonicus  at  that  time 
and  to  pass  it  along  from  village  to  village,  like 
Rhoderick  Dhu’s  summons  to  Clan  Alpine.  If  he 
was  as  ambitious  to  extend  his  domain  and  power 
as  some  writers  think,  and  as  his  attack  upon  the 
island  seems  to  indicate,  it  is  inconceivable  that  he 
should  have  refrained  from  further  conquest  if  the 


102 


MASSASOIT 


Wampanoags,  Massachusetts  and  Paw  tuckets,  or 
Pennacooks,  were  as  weak  as  some  writers  seem  to 
think,  Drake  placing  the  strength  of  the  Paw- 
tuckets  at  that  time  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  souls, 
not  warriors  but  all  combined,  and  another  writer 
saying  that  the  Massachusetts  were  the  weakest  of 
all  the  three  federations. 

It  is  true  that  the  Pequots  at  some  earlier  date 
had  subjugated  the  Mohicans,  Niantics  and  other 
minor  tribes  in  Connecticut  and  had  settled  down 
upon  the  land  contiguous  to  that  of  the  Narragan- 
setts  on  the  west;  and  that  the  bitterest  hostility 
existed  between  these  two  tribes  or  federations;  but 
they  seem  to  have  been  at  peace  at  this  time;  and 
from  our  reading  of  the  records  of  dissensions  be- 
tween the  Pequots  and  the  conquered  tribes  which 
they  evidently  were  trying  to  join  to  themselves,  we 
may  well  believe  that  they  were  then  bending  all 
their  energy  to  the  task  of  consolidating  the  con- 
quered territory,  a task  at  which  they  were  never 
entirely  successful.  However  much  the  Narra- 
gansetts  may  have  feared  attempts  at  further  con- 
quests on  the  part  of  the  Pequots,  there  is  no 
evidence  of  any  Pequot  aggressions  against  them  at 
that  time;  and  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  hos- 
tility of  later  days  was  first  manifested  by  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  themselves,  being  aroused  in  part  at  least 
by  the  raid  of  the  Pequots  upon  the  hunting  grounds 
of  the  Niantics  and  the  Mohicans,  the  former  of 
whom  were  more  closely  related  to  the  Narragan- 
setts  than  either  of  them  were  to  the  Pequots;  and 


MASSASOIT  103 

the  Mohicans  not  being  held  in  such  dread  as  were 
their  conquerors. 

So  the  fear  of  Pequot  invasion  may  be  eliminated 
as  a possible  deterrent  to  further  Narragansett 
aggression  against  the  Wampanoags,  and  we  are 
compelled  to  look  for  another  reason  for  Canonicus’ 
failure  to  follow  up  his  seizure  of  Aquidnick.  There 
seems  but  one  logical  conclusion,  and  that  is  that 
the  Wampanoag  strength  on  the  mainland,  where 
the  destruction  of  a few  villages  would  result  only  in 
driving  their  occupants  back  upon  the  inland  tribes 
by  which  they  would  be  constantly  augmented  was 
sufficient  to  hold  Canonicus  in  check. 

These  reflections  lead  us  directly  to  a considera- 
tion of  Massasoit’s  purpose  in  approaching  the  Eng- 
lish with  the  olive  branch  of  peace.  Any  suggestion 
that  he  did  it  from  purely  disinterested  motives 
would  be  a reflection  upon  his  sagacity.  That  he 
was  running  counter  to  the  wishes  of  his  most 
powerful  sub-sachem,  Corbitant  of  Pocasset,  is 
clearly  established,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that  he 
voluntarily  trailed  to  Plymouth  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  up  something  for  nothing.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  knew  enough  about  the  English  not  to 
expect  something  for  nothing  from  them.  The  ter- 
ritory of  his  own  tribes  had  been  invaded  by  Har- 
low and  Hunt,  who  had  carried  away  many  of  his 
people,  some  to  be  sold  into  slavery,  and  others  to 
be  held  in  virtual  slavery  to  those  who  desired  to 
utilize  them  in  further  trade  among  the  tribes. 
Squanto  had  returned,  and,  of  course,  had  related 
his  experiences;  and  Massasoit  must  have  known 


104 


MASSASOIT 


of  similar  outrages  perpetrated  upon  other  tribes 
along  the  New  England  coast.  Virginia  Baker  in 
her  excellent  little  book,  “Massasoit’s  Town  of  So- 
wams  in  Pokanoket,”  speaks  of  him  as  wise  states- 
man and  shrewd  politician;  and  it  is  in  this  character 
that  we  are  impelled,  by  a consideration  of  his  acts, 
to  look  upon  him.  Squanto’s  account  of  what  he 
had  seen  in  England  where  he  had  spent  much 
time  and  had  been  kindly  treated  must  have  seemed 
to  his  simple  listeners  like  tales  from  the  “Arabian 
Nights.”  Massasoit  had  heard  his  story  and  had 
been  impressed  by  it;  and,  when  he  learned  that 
voyagers  from  that  wonderful  land  had  settled  upon 
his  territory,  he  went  to  them,  not  to  surrender  any 
portion  of  his  sovereignty,  but  as  a king  to  treat 
with  the  representatives  of  a king.  There  was  no 
thought  of  submission  or  subjection.  He  came  to 
ascertain  the  purpose  of  their  visit  and  their  inten- 
tions, and  when  he  learned  that  they  contemplated 
a permanent  settlement,  he  sat  down  with  them  to 
discuss  terms  on  which  they  might  live  side  by  side 
in  perfect  harmony. 

The  memorable  treaty  was  the  outcome  of  this 
conference,  and  under  it  he  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose as  long  as  the  men  who  were  parties  to  it  lived 
and  kept  a controlling  hand  on  the  affairs  of  the 
colony.  It  was  not  encroachments  by  Carver, 
Bradford,  Winslow  and  their  associates,  who  knew 
him  in  the  early  days,  that  caused  the  breach  and 
little  by  little  widened  it  until  nothing  short  of  the 
resort  to  arms  could  settle  the  differences  between 
the  two  races,  but  the  unjust  suspicions,  followed 


MASSASOIT 


105 


by  the  arbitrary  conduct  and  petty  acts  of  annoy- 
ance of  a later  generation.  The  ambitious  designs 
of  the  colonists,  when  they  had  attained  sufficient 
strength  to  walk  alone,  led  them  to  attempt  to 
govern  the  Indians  as  subjects,  to  order  them  about 
at  will,  to  interfere  in  their  most  intimate  tribal 
affairs,  to  take  jurisdiction  of  matters  that  ought  to 
have  been  left  to  tribal  councils,  instead  of  treating 
them  as  an  independent  and  politically  equal  people. 
It  was  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  whites  that 
broke  the  chain  of  friendship  and  plunged  the  colo- 
nists into  war  with  the  sons  of  the  men  who  had 
befriended  them  at  a time  when  that  friendship  was 
a matter  of  life  or  death  to  them;  a war  that  cost 
the  colonists  thousands  of  lives  that  might  have 
been  saved  by  a little  tolerance  and  a sense  of  jus- 
tice, and  that  resulted  in  the  extermination  of  a 
once  proud  and  powerful  people. 

This  fatal  ending  of  a friendship  so  auspiciously 
begun  cannot  justly  be  charged  to  Massasoit,  nor 
entirely  to  his  sons  and  successors.  The  history  of 
the  times  has  been  written  by  the  colonists.  The 
Indian  has  left  no  chronicle  of  the  events  that 
finally  impelled  him  to  dig  up  the  tomahawk.  It 
is  by  the  white  man’s  records  that  both  must  be 
judged;  and  those  records  convict  the  colonists  of  a 
series  of  aggressions  of  sufficient  seriousness  to  arouse 
the  ire  and  stir  the  blood  of  any  people  who  had, been 
accustomed,  to  range  the  forests  and  fish  the  streams 
in  untrammeled  freedom  until  the  white  man  cun- 
ningly forged  the  fetters  for  their  free  born  feet. 

Massasoit  entered  into  the  treaty  in  entire  good 


106 


MASSASOIT 


faith,  and  with  a fixed  determination  to  observe  it 
in  spirit  and  in  letter,  as  is  conclusively  shown  by 
the  several  acts  to  which  I shall  call  particular  at- 
tention, by  his  overlooking  its  breach  by  the  Eng- 
lish in  refusing  to  surrender  Squanto,  and  by  the 
fact  that  the  treaty  was  never  broken  by  him  or  his 
people  during  the  forty  years  of  his  life  after  its 
signing,  nor  during  the  short  reign  of  his  eldest  son 
and  successor,  Wamsutta,  nor  indeed  during  the 
first  thirteen  years  of  the  rule  of  his  second  son 
Pometacom;  although  there  were  rumblings  of  the 
approaching  tempest  from  1671.  Indeed,  the  colo- 
nists tried  to  find  evidence  of  bad  faith  on  the  part 
of  Wamsutta  ten  years  before,  but  the  most  they 
did  was  to  establish  their  own  bad  faith  in  spite  of 
their  efforts  to  cover  it  with  the  cloud  of  suspicion 
against  him.  A further  consideration  of  the  affair 
with  that  great  chief  will  appear  when  we  come  to 
a survey  of  his  short  term  in  his  chieftaincy;  so 
I shall  dismiss  it  for  the  present  with  the  reflection 
that  some  acts  on  the  part  of  the  whites  during 
the  period  which  we  are  considering,  as  recorded  by 
themselves,  are  enough  to  raise  the  question  whether 
they  were  not  guilty  of  a deliberate  attempt  to  so 
arouse  and  exasperate  the  natives,  as  to  lead  them 
to  acts  of  open  hostility  to  be  seized  upon  as  an 
excuse  for  exterminating  the  race.  I am  aware  that 
this  is  a serious  indictment,  but  it  is  supported  by 
a series  of  aggressions  that  seem  inexplicable  on 
any  other  theory  than  that  they  were  deliberately 
planned,  or  were  perpetrated  with  reckless  disregard 
for  the  rights  of  the  Indians. 


MASSASOIT 


107 


Massasoit,  as  I have  said,  entered  into  the  pact 
with  Governor  Carver  in  good  faith.  He  was  ac- 
customed to  dealing  with  men  whose  only  bond  was 
their  word,  with  the  simple  natives,  “silly  savages,” 
as  Captain  Smith  calls  them,  unaccustomed  to  the 
arts  of  civilization  and  the  trick  of  trying  to  find 
excuses  for  breaking  their  pledges,  instead  of  studi- 
ously endeavoring  to  observe  them,  both  in  letter 
and  in  spirit;  and  he  then  had  no  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  the  English  were  less  sincere,  or  that 
they  entered  into  the  relations  defined  in  the  pact 
with  the  intent  to  observe  it  only  in  so  far  as  it 
served  their  purpose,  or  as  long  as  it  was  useful  to 
them.  This  was  one  of  the  lessons  in  the  higher 
European  civilization  that  they  learned  in  the  bitter 
school  of  experience;  and  the  men  who  taught  them 
this  code  of  morals  had  no  right  to  complain  when 
the  results  of  their  teaching  reacted  upon  them- 
selves. I am  reluctant  to  believe  that  Carver  then 
looked  upon  his  treaty  in  that  fight;  but  we  find 
his  immediate  successor,  Bradford,  recording  the 
fact  that  he,  as  early  as  1622  in  the  episode  arising 
out  of  the  perfectly  apparent  perfidy  of  Squanto, 
was  more  intent  upon  finding  an  excuse  for  evading 
the  treaty  than  upon  conforming  to  its  provisions. 

So  when  Samoset  on  March  16,  1621,  appeared  in 
the  street  of  Plymouth,  and,  after  being  entertained, 
departed  on  the  next  day  saying  he  would  bring 
Massasoit,  a great  Sachem  who  had  sixty  warriors 
under  him;  and  apparently  sent  runners  who  had 
been  lurking  in  the  neighborhood,  to  convey  to 
Massasoit  the  tidings  that  the  English  had  en- 


108 


MASSASOIT 


camped  upon  the  hunting  grounds  of  one  of  his 
tribes,  now  extinct,  and  had  erected  habitations 
there  of  a more  permanent  character  than  had  ever 
been  attempted  before,  the  Great  Sachem  himself, 
proud  ruler  of  more  than  thirty  villages,  with  his 
sixty  panieses,  took  up  the  trail  of  forty  miles  to 
visit  the  intruders,  not  for  the  purpose  of  expelling 
them  by  force,  not  to  trade  with  them  as  had  been 
done  before  along  the  coast,  but  to  inquire  the  pur- 
pose of  this  unbidden  camping  upon  the  grounds  of 
which  he  was  still  the  rightful  owner,  even  though 
the  tribe,  his  tribe,  that  had  occupied  them  had 
been  wiped  out.  Possibly  he  had  in  mind  the  very 
thing  that  happened,  the  formation  of  a league  with 
the  white  men,  who  fought  with  “fire  and  thunder,” 
to  assist  him  in  case  of  further  encroachments  by  his 
ambitious  neighbor,  Canonicus;  and  for  which  he 
was  willing  to  give  a full  equivalent,  the  right  to 
occupy  the  land,  the  assistance  of  his  people  in 
teaching  the  strangers  how  to  compel  the  forest, 
stream  and  soil  to  yield  up  a subsistence,  and  to  aid 
them  in  case  of  hostile  attacks  upon  them  by  tribes 
over  which  he  had  no  control,  or  which  were  likely 
to  break  away  from  such  restraint  as  he  had  over 
them. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  what  we  know,  it  now 
seems  that  the  colonists  were  getting  the  best  end 
of  the  bargain  as  matters  then  stood,  and  could 
well  afford  to  be  liberal  in  the  construction  of  the 
duties  and  obligations  assumed  by  them.  True,  as 
they  increased  in  numbers  and  strength,  the  scale 
might  have  tipped  the  other  way  even  if  the  treaty 


MASSASOIT 


109 


had  been  rigidly  adhered  to  by  the  settlers,  but  this 
affords  no  excuse  for  its  breach  by  them.  As 
matters  stood  on  that  bleak  day  in  March,  1621, 
with  their  ranks  depleted  by  death,  that  had  deso- 
lated nearly,  if  not  quite,  every  hearth,  deaths  in 
such  numbers  that  they  dared  not  raise  a mound 
to  mark  the  spots  where  they  had  consigned  their 
departed  to  earth  for  fear  that  their  weakness 
might  be  discovered,  they  received  much  more  than 
they  gave.  To  them  this  friendly  visit  of  Massa- 
soit  and  his  readiness  to  sit  with  them  in  council, 
to  smoke  with  them  the  pipe  of  peace,  to  form 
with  them  a defensive  alliance,  must  have  seemed 
like  a visitation  of  guardian  angels  from  an  unseen 
shore. 

Words  without  deeds,  however,  are  of  little  value, 
promises  are  easily  made,  and,  too  often,  as  easily 
broken.  The  shores  of  time  are  thickly  strewn  with 
the  wreckage  of  treaties  shattered  by  the  perfidy  of 
men  who  look  not  to  their  plighted  word  once  it 
seems  to  their  advantage  to  disregard  their  solemn 
pledges.  This  reflection  brings  us  to  a consideration 
of  the  benefits  accruing  to  the  colonists  from  the 
faithfulness  of  the  natives  to  the  pact  entered  into 
between  Governor  Carver  and  their  Great  Sachem. 

Things  moved  rapidly  during  the  first  few  years 
after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  there  must 
have  been  times  when  they  were  in  serious  doubt 
whether  their  venture  was  destined  to  success  or 
failure.  Without  attempting  to  recite  the  entire 
history  of  that  period,  I will  call  attention  to  a few 
of  the  important  events  for  the  successful  culmi- 


110 


MASSASOIT 


nation  of  which  the  colonists  were  indebted  to  the 
Great  Sachem  who  had  pledged  his  friendship  to 
them.  I do  this  for  the  purpose  of  properly  ap- 
praising the  value  of  that  friendship. 

Two  men  occupy  a unique  position  in  the  early 
life  of  the  colonists.  I shall  have  more  to  say  about 
them  in  a later  chapter,  but  it  is  not  inopportune  to 
here  call  attention  briefly  to  the  fact  that  they 
played  an  important  part  in  assisting  the  settlers  to 
establish  themselves,  and  to  enter  into  trade  rela- 
tions with  the  tribes;  of  these  Squanto,  it  will  be 
remembered  was  either  the  only  survivor  or  one  of 
the  very  few  survivors  of  the  Patuxets  who  had  occu- 
pied the  territory  around  Plymouth  as  far  back  as 
the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Nemaskets,  whose  prin- 
cipal village  was  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
Middleboro;  and  consequently  he  was  a subject  of 
Massasoit.  A brief  account  of  his  invaluable  serv- 
ices will  appear  elsewhere,  and  my  only  purpose 
now  is  to  suggest  that  without  the  friendship  of 
his  Great  Sachem  he  might  not  have  been  in  posi- 
tion to  give  such  assistance  to  the  colonists  as  to 
lead  Corbitant,  in  his  bitterness,  to  speak  of  him 
as  the  tongue  of  the  English. 

Hobamock,  the  other  of  these  two,  was  one  of 
the  panieses  of  Massasoit,  attached  to  his  chief- 
taincy as  counsellor  and  personal  follower  on  the 
warpath.  He  came  to  the  English  shortly  after 
the  end  of  July,  1621,  and  proved  to  be  of  great  help 
to  them  in  extending  their  trade  and  in  establishing 
friendly  relations  with  the  surrounding  tribes.  In 
this  he  was  undoubtedly  aided  by  his  position  as  a 


MASSASOIT 


111 


counsellor  to  the  Great  Sachem,  his  influence  on 
this  account  extending  even  beyond  the  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Wampanoags.  Besides  it  was  he  who 
broke  away  and  gave  the  alarm  that  resulted  in  the 
rescue  of  Squanto  when  threatened  by  Corbitant.  It 
is  true  that  Squanto  was  only  threatened  and  then 
let  go,  but  what  might  have  been  his  fate  had  not 
Corbitant  known  that  Hobamock  was  likely  to 
bring  a hornet’s  nest  about  his  ears,  we  can  only 
conjecture.  And  so  the  colonists  owed  the  con- 
tinued services  of  Squanto  to  Hobamock. 

Three  months  after  Massasoit’s  first  visit  to  Ply- 
mouth, as  their  first  spring  in  the  new  world  was 
ripening  into  summer,  Governor  Bradford,  who  had 
been  elected  to  succeed  Carver,  was  desirous  of  se- 
curing first  hand  information  concerning  the  Great 
Sachem,  how  important  a personage  he  was,  and 
what  were  his  surroundings,  and  so  on  July  2,  1621, 
Edward  Winslow,  who  had  been  one  of  the  hostages 
for  Massasoit’s  safety  when  he  entered  Plymouth  to 
confer  with  Governor  Carver,  set  out  accompanied 
by  Stephen  Hopkins  and  with  Squanto  as  guide,  to 
secure  the  desired  information,  to  strengthen  the 
ties  of  friendship,  and  to  procure  corn  for  planting. 
They  arrived  on  July  4,  and  found  Massasoit  absent, 
but  he  soon  returned  and  greeted  them  kindly. 
They  presented  him  a red  horseman’s  coat,  which 
he  donned  with  great  pride,  and  a copper  chain 
which  he  was  to  send  by  any  messengers  whom  he 
might  wish  to  dispatch  to  Plymouth,  as  evidence 
that  they  came  from  him.  On  this  occasion  they 
found  him  and  his  people  reduced  to  such  straits 


112 


MASSASOIT 


for  food  that  he  was  unable  to  offer  them  anything 
to  eat  until  the  next  day,  when  he  set  before  his 
guests  two  large  boiled  fish,  which  served  as  a re- 
past for  them  and  about  forty  of  the  natives.  They 
spent  two  nights  in  his  lodge,  but  in  such  discom- 
fort, as  Winslow  informs  us  in  great  detail,  that 
they  arose  more  exhausted  than  when  they  retired. 
On  the  third  day  they  departed  to  return  to  Ply- 
mouth, although  urged  to  make  their  visit  longer 
by  Massasoit,  who  expressed  regret  that  he  had  not 
been  able  better  to  entertain  them.  Unfortunately 
Winslow  does  not  inform  us  what  entertainment 
they  had  after  the  first  repast.  From  this  and  later 
visits  there  sprung  up  a strong  personal  friendship 
between  Winslow  and  the  Great  Sachem  which  con- 
tinued until  the  death  of  the  former  in  1655. 

Hardly  had  this  mission  been  successfully  accom- 
plished when  there  arose  a great  hue  and  cry  for 
one  John  Billington  who  was  lost.  He  had  gone 
into  the  woods,  and,  unable  to  find  his  way  out, 
wandered  up  and  down  for  five  days,  finally  reach- 
ing Manomet,  twenty  miles  down  the  bay.  The 
Manomets  carried  him  further  down  the  cape  to 
the  Nausets.  The  governor  inquired  of  the  Indians 
about  him,  and  finally  Massasoit  sent  word  where 
he  was  and  a shallop  was  sent  for  him.  The  Nausets 
soon  after  came,  one  hundred  warriors,  and  “made 
peace”  with  the  colonists.  It  is  related  that  of  the 
one  hundred  who  came  only  sixty  entered  the  vil- 
lage, the  others  holding  themselves  aloof.  It  was 
at  about  this  time  that  Hobamock  came  to  live 
at  Plymouth.  Whether  he  was  the  messenger  who 


MASSASOIT 


113 


brought  the  tidings  of  Billington’s  whereabouts  and 
remained,  or  not,  does  not  appear;  but  he  was  there 
in  August,  for  it  was  then  that  the  episode  between 
him  and  Squanto  and  Corbitant,  which  we  will 
have  occasion  to  consider  later,  came  tumbling  so 
close  on  the  heels  of  that  with  the  Manomets  and 
Nausets  that  the  settlers  must  have  been  nearly- 
distracted  by  the  antics  of  their  neighbors.  When 
Captain  Standish  with  his  formidable  army  of  four- 
teen men  surrounded  the  house  in  which  Corbitant 
was  supposed  to  be  holding  Squanto  prisoner,  if 
indeed  he  had  not  already  dispatched  him,  three 
men  were  “sore  wounded”  in  getting  out,  and 
were  brought  to  Plymouth  and  healed;  whereupon 
the  colonists  “received  the  gratulations  of  many 
sachems.  Yea,  those  of  the  Island  of  Capawack 
sent  to  make  friendship,  and  this  Corbitant  himself 
used  the  mediation  of  Massasoit  to  make  his  peace 
but  was  shie  to  come  near  them  a long  while  after,” 
as  the  story  is  told  by  Bradford. 

Following  this  series  of  events,  each  of  which 
was  fraught  with  the  possibility  of  disaster  to  the 
settlers,  came  the  red  letter  day  of  the  whole  year. 
On  September  13,  nine  chiefs  came  to  Plymouth  to 
arrange  a modus  vivendi  as  modern  diplomats  would 
say;  and  before  they  got  away  every  one  of  them 
signed  an  acknowledgment  of  allegiance  to  King 
James.  Probably  not  one  of  them  knew  what  he 
had  done  or  dreamed  that  he  had  entered  the  town 
a prince,  a ruler  over  his  people,  and  left  it  a slave, 
for  that  is  what  the  colonists  tried  to  make  of 
them;  and  their  posterity  have  raised  a great  hue 


114 


MASSASOIT 


and  cry  about  the  faithless  Indians  not  submitting 
to  be  governed  by  the  colonists,  as  loyal  subjects  of 
the  same  king.  Unless  the  rulers  and  holy  men  of 
God  at  Plymouth  loaded  them  with  “strong  water” 
until  they  were  entirely  bereft  of  their  senses,  they 
undoubtedly  thought  that  they  were  treating  on 
equal  terms  with  the  settlers,  signing  a treaty  of 
alliance,  and  not  a craven  surrender  of  their  sover- 
eignty. These  nine  chiefs  were: 

Ohquamehud,  said  by  Drake  to  be  a Wampa- 
noag,  and  undoubtedly  true  in  the  broad  sense  in 
which  we  use  the  term,  for  the  same  name,  though 
spelled  Oquomehod,  appears  on  a deed  from  the 
Nausets  to  the  people  of  New  Plymouth  in  1666. 

Cawnacome,  whom  Drake  identifies  as  Cone- 
camon,  Sachem  of  Manomet;  and  I desire  to  digress 
at  this  point  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  this 
latter  spelling  is  identical  with  that  of  the  name  of 
Epenow’s  companion  in  captivity  when  he  was 
carried  away  by  Harlow  in  1611,  and  undoubtedly 
identifies  the  former  victim  of  English  cupidity 
with  the  later  sachem  of  his  tribe. 

Obbitinua,  said  by  Drake  to  be  Obbatinewat, 
sachem  of  the  Massachusetts,  and  subject  to  Mas- 
sasoit.  Dexter  disagrees  with  Drake,  on  the  theory 
that  the  colonists  would  not  have  asked  him  to  sub- 
mit himself  by  reason  of  his  relations  with  Massa- 
soit.  This  reasoning  seems  illogical  to  me,  because 
there  is  strong  ground  for  believing  that  the  Massa- 
chusetts were  not  subjects,  but  allies  of  Massasoit, 
in  fact  the  weight  of  authority  strongly  points  to 
this  conclusion;  besides,  even  if  he  were  a subject 


MASSASOIT 


115 


of  Massasoit,  Dexter’s  reasoning  seems  weak  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  sachems  who 
submitted  themselves  at  that  time  were  clearly  sub- 
jects of  Massasoit. 

Nattawahtjnt,  probably  Natawanute  or  Atta- 
wanhut  of  Connecticut,  although  Drake  inclines  to 
the  belief  that  this  is  Nashacowan,  a Nipmuck 
chief  who  was  a subject  of  Massasoit.  My  reason 
for  believing  it  to  be  the  former  is  that  Attawanhut, 
a Connecticut  River  sachem,  had  been  dispossessed 
of  his  territory  along  the  Fresh  (Connecticut) 
River  by  Wapyquent,  or  Tattoepan  as  he  is  most 
frequently  called,  and  Winslow,  who  had  large 
property  holdings  in  Connecticut  and  spent  a con- 
siderable part  of  his  time  there,  restored  him  to  his 
former  possessions,  quite  likely  as  a reward  for  his 
submission,  and  in  the  expectation  of  profiting  by 
giving  him,  a subject  of  the  king,  the  name  of  ruling 
the  natives  in  the  vicinity. 

Caunbitant  (Corbitant),  Sachem  of  Pocasset 
whom  we  have  already  noticed. 

Chicataubut,  of  the  Massachusetts. 

Quadequina,  Massasoit’s  younger  brother,  who 
accompanied  him  to  Plymouth  on  the  occasion  of  his 
first  visit  and  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  two 
“Kings  of  Pokanoket”  whom  Captain  Dermer  met 
in  the  wilds  of  Nemasket  in  1619. 

Huttamoiden,  whom  I am  unable  to  identify 
from  the  writings  of  contemporary  historians  either 
by  this  name  or  any  other  bearing  a close  resem- 
blance to  it. 

Appanow,  whom  Drake  takes  to  be  Aspinet  of 


116 


MASSASOIT 


Nauset,  taking  issue  with  other  early  writers,  who 
think  it  was  Epenow  of  Capawack.  The  closer 
similarity  in  sound  together  with  the  recorded  fact 
that  after  the  episode  of  Corbitant,  Squanto  and 
Hobamock  the  month  previous,  “those  (Sachems) 
of  the  island  of  Capawack  sent  to  make  friendship,” 
leads  me  to  believe  that  it  was  Epenow.  He  had 
sent  the  month  before  and  now  undoubtedly  came 
in  person.  This  is  probably  the  same  Epenow 
who,  with  Conecamon,  was  carried  away  by  Har- 
low in  1611,  and  made  a thrilling  escape  three 
years  later,  as  already  related. 

The  confusion  in  names  resulting  from  changes 
in  spelling  from  sound  leaves  us  in  doubt  as  to  the 
identity  of  some  of  the  men  of  that  period.  The 
names,  being  written  down  by  some  Englishman  as 
the  sounds  struck  his  ear,  were  spelled  in  almost  as 
many  ways  as  there  were  men  who  had  occasion 
to  write  them.  Consequently,  where  differences  of 
opinion  arise  concerning  the  identity  of  particular 
individuals,  we  are  obliged  to  decide  for  ourselves 
which  appears  the  most  reasonable. 

My  only  reason  for  going  into  this  question  in 
detail  and  attempting  to  establish  the  identity  of 
these  sachems  is  to  call  attention  to  the  far  reach- 
ing effects  of  the  treaty  of  March  22,  1621,  for 
there  can  be  no  question  that  the  event  of  Septem- 
ber 13  was  the  direct  outgrowth  of  that  treaty,  as, 
indeed,  were  all  the  events  to  which  I have  just 
called  attention. 

There  were  other  matters  arising  at  a later  time 
in  which  the  action  of  the  natives  was  unquestion- 


MASSASOIT 


117 


ably  influenced  by  the  alliance  between  the  Wam- 
panoags  and  the  English;  but  I will  content  myself 
with  calling  attention  briefly  to  one  of  them  at  this 
time,  one  that  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  an- 
other chapter,  but  is  of  so  much  consequence  in 
connection  with  the  subject  now  under  considera- 
tion, that  this  array  of  the  direct  benefits  resulting 
to  the  colonists  from  their  treaty  with  Massasoit 
would  not  be  complete  without  some  reference  to 
it;  and  that  is  the  challenge  sent  by  Canonicus  to 
Plymouth  in  November,  1621,  in  the  form  of  a 
bundle  of  arrows  wrapped  in  a rattlesnake’s  skin. 
We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  Governor  Bradford’s 
defiant  reply,  accompanied  by  the  same  skin  filled 
with  powder  and  musket  balls,  as  the  only  deter- 
rent to  Canonicus’  ambitious  project  of  attacking 
the  colony.  But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  Narragansetts  could  reach  Plymouth  only  by 
sailing  around  Cape  Cod,  which  was  impracticable, 
or  by  crossing  Wampanoag  territory.  This  would 
be  an  act  of  open  hostility  to  the  latter  unless  as- 
sented to,  so  it  may  have  been,  not  the  powder  and 
balls  alone,  but  the  knowledge  that  he  would  have 
to  contest  his  way  with  Massasoit’s  warriors,  as 
well,  that  held  the  wily  Canonicus  in  check.  The 
Narragansetts  at  that  time  could  muster  at  least 
three  thousand  warriors,  and  if  the  Wampanoags 
had  been  hostile  to  the  English  or  even  passive,  it 
does  not  require  any  particularly  prophetic  vision 
or  power  of  divination  to  read  the  result  to  the 
colonists. 

And  so  the  first  year  passed  without  even  the 


118 


MASSASOIT 


suspicion  of  any  lack  of  good  faith  on  the  part  of 
either  the  natives  or  the  colonists;  for  no  one  ever 
thought  of  blaming  Massasoit  for  the  acts  of  Cor- 
bitant,  or  of  the  Manomets  and  Nausets.  Corbi- 
tant’s  Pocassets  were  almost  or  quite  as  strong 
numerically  as  the  Pokanokets  alone,  and  their  ter- 
ritory adjoined;  and  the  Manomets  and  Nausets 
were  way  down  on  Cape  Cod.  When  one  stops  to 
consider  the  way  in  which  the  tribes  of  the  federa- 
tion were  scattered,  and  the  natives’  natural  love  of 
freedom  from  interference,  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  Great  Sachem  who  could  hold  them  together  at 
all  in  times  of  peace  must  be  both  diplomat  and 
warrior. 

But  in  the  spring  of  1622  Squanto,  who  evidently 
was  nourishing  ambitions  of  his  own,  became  jealous 
of  Hobamock,  and  caused  rumors  to  be  circulated 
which  cast  some  doubt  upon  the  sincerity  of  Mas- 
sasoit’s  friendship;  and  Bradford  tells  us  that 
“much  anxiety  existed  which  was  increased  by  the 
conduct  of  Massasoit,  who  seemed  to  frown  on  us, 
and  neither  came  nor  sent  to  us  as  formerly.”  The 
valuation  which  they  placed  upon  his  friendship  at 
that  time,  can  easily  be  seen  from  this  passage  from 
Bradford  himself.  Massasoit  had  good  reason  to 
frown  on  them,  and  to  refrain  from  coming  or  send- 
ing to  them  as  formerly.  This  was  after  Squanto’s 
treachery  to  his  Great  Sachem  had  been  discovered, 
of  which  a more  particular  account  will  be  found 
in  the  chapter  dealing  with  him,  and  Massasoit  had 
himself  gone  to  Plymouth  to  request  his  delivery  to 
him  in  pursuance  of  the  treaty  and  had  sent  messen- 


MASSASOIT 


119 


gers  for  the  same  purpose,  all  to  no  avail.  This 
might  well  cause  him  to  wonder  if  the  English 
looked  upon  the  treaty  as  creating  obligations  and 
imposing  duties  upon  only  one  of  the  signatories; 
and  he  may  have  felt  himself  released  from  a strict 
observance  of  its  terms.  From  a remark  made  by 
him  after  Winslow  had  administered  to  him  and  re- 
lieved him  of  his  distress  in  March,  1623,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  the  Great  Chief’s  distrust  of  the  English, 
arising  from  Bradford’s  refusal  to  give  Squanto  up 
to  him,  was  not  entirely  removed  until  that  time. 

That  there  was  ground  for  the  colonists’  anxiety 
is  apparent  from  the  disclosure  made  by  Massasoit 
after  his  relief  by  Winslow;  and  that  there  was 
justification  for  the  acts  of  the  natives  we  will  show 
in  a subsequent  paragraph;  but,  after  Winslow’s 
visit  to  Sowams,  there  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  any  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  settlers  that 
Massasoit  was  a party  to  their  projects,  although 
he  knew  of  them. 

Sometime  in  March,  1623,  word  of  Massasoit’s 
illness  reached  Plymouth,  and,  at  Governor  Brad- 
ford’s behest,  Edward  Winslow  again  set  out  for 
Sowams,  accompanied  by  Hobamock  and  a “gentle- 
man from  London,  named  John  Hamden,”  perhaps 
the  John  Hampden  who  afterwards  distinguished 
himself  as  a leader  of  the  Parliamentary  forces  in 
the  struggle  between  the  Commons  and  Charles  II. 
Bradford  desired  them  to  make  this  trip  to  express 
to  Massasoit  his  friendship,  and  to  obtain  a con- 
ference with  Dutch  traders  who  were  reported  to 
have  been  driven  ashore  in  Narragansett  Bay. 


120 


MASSASOIT 


Before  their  arrival  the  ship  had  been  gotten  off 
and  so  this  part  of  their  errand  came  to  naught. 
Not  so  the  other  purpose,  however,  for  on  arriving 
at  Massasoit’s  lodge,  they  found  him  very  ill, 
scarcely  able  to  speak  and  wholly  unable  to  see. 
When  he  asked  who  had  come,  and  was  told  Wins- 
low, he  exclaimed:  “Ah,  Winslow,  I shall  never 
see  thee  again!”  By  administering  some  simple 
remedies  and  scraping  off  a thick  coating  which  had 
gathered  in  his  throat  and  on  his  tongue,  Winslow 
soon  relieved  him  of  his  suffering;  whereupon  he 
said:  “Now  I see  the  English  are  my  friends  and 
love  me,  and  whilst  I live  I will  never  forget  this 
kindness  they  have  showed  me.”  The  doubt  exist- 
ing since  the  episode  over  Squanto,  fostered  by  some 
one  of  his  wily  sub-sachems,  unquestionably  Corbi- 
tant,  who  had  whispered  suspicions  into  his  ears 
during  his  sickness,  was  resolved;  and  Massasoit 
kept  his  word. 

His  sagamores  and  allies  who  had  come  to  visit 
him,  some  from  a distance  of  a hundred  miles,  were 
told  how  his  friends,  the  English,  had  restored  him 
to  health. 

When  they  were  about  to  return  to  Plymouth, 
Massasoit  called  together  his  most  trusted  counsel- 
lors, of  whom  Hobamock  was  one,  and,  in  the 
presence  of  all  of  them,  directed  Hobamock  to  ac- 
quaint Winslow  with  the  existence  of  a plot  against 
Weston’s  colony  at  Wessagusset  and  the  settlement 
at  Plymouth.  He  informed  them  that  the  Massa- 
chusetts Indians  were  the  chief  instigators  of  the 
conspiracy  and  implicated  the  natives  of  Nauset, 


MASSASOIT 


121 


Paomet,  Sokones,  Mattachiest,  Manomet,  Agawam 
and  the  Island  of  Capawack,  most  of  whom  were 
his  subjects,  and  among  which  were  several  of  those 
tribes  whose  sachems  had  subscribed  the  declara- 
tion of  allegiance  to  King  James  eighteen  months 
before. 

It  is  significant  that  all  the  tribes  implicated  were 
those  who  lived  remote  from  Pokanoket,  and,  es- 
pecially, that  Corbitant  was  not  openly  mixed  up 
in  the  affair.  That  he  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
conspirators  there  is  no  doubt;  and  that  he  had  en- 
deavored to  secure  his  Great  Sachem’s  consent  to 
his  making  common  cause  with  them  is  almost  as 
certain;  and  Massasoit’s  withholding  of  that  con- 
sent, notwithstanding  his  own  serious  grievance,  is, 
in  itself,  striking  evidence  of  his  exalted  character. 
The  information  given  by  him  at  that  time  was  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  colonists,  as  it  enabled 
their  doughty  Captain  Standish  to  take  the  neces- 
sary steps  to  put  an  end  to  the  conspiracy  and  save 
the  colonies. 

The  man  who  accepts  at  its  par  value  the  saying 
“There  is  no  good  Indian  but  a dead  Indian,”  will 
see  in  this  conspiracy  conclusive  evidence  of  Indian 
treachery  and  faithlessness,  and  will  say  that  Massa- 
soit,  knowing  of  it,  had  silently  acquiesced  in  it  up 
to  the  time  of  his  restoration  to  health  by  Winslow, 
revealing  it  then  only  from  gratitude  for  his  recovery. 
To  such  critics,  I would  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  he  showed  his  superiority  to  the  English  in  his 
display  of  gratitude,  for  there  is  no  evidence  of  any 
manifestation  of  appreciation  of  favors  received  in 


122 


MASSASOIT 


all  their  dealings  with  the  Indians  unless  there  was 
attached  to  it  the  expectation  of  further  favors; 
and  I would  also  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
colonists  had  themselves,  only  a few  short  months 
before,  protected  a traitor  to  Massasoit  in  plain  vio- 
lation of  the  express  provisions  of  the  treaty,  the 
first  breach;  and  all  the  natives  undoubtedy  knew 
of  it.  This  act  may  well  have  caused  the  simple 
natives  to  look  upon  the  treaty  as  abrogated;  and 
to  consider  themselves  released  from  all  obligations 
assumed  under  that  or  any  subsequent  stipulations 
or  agreements;  and  Massasoit  had  good  cause  to 
share  in  such  feeling. 

But  for  this  illness  of  the  Great  Sachem,  the 
timely  arrival  of  Winslow,  and  the  efficacy  of  his 
simple  remedies  to  alleviate  the  suffering  man  and 
arrest  the  progress  of  the  disease,  the  colonists 
might  have  perished  at  the  hands  of  the  conspira- 
tors, and  another  awful  example  of  savage  treachery 
been  furnished  to  the  world;  and  the  major  part  of 
humanity  would  have  accepted  it  at  its  face  value, 
without  looking  into  the  first  great  cause.  Indeed, 
the  history  of  those  times,  as  recorded  by  Bradford, 
might  never  have  seen  the  light  of  day,  and  without 
his  record,  his  failure  to  keep  the  faith  with  Massa- 
soit might  never  have  become  known;  for  it  is  from 
his  own  narrative,  providentially  preserved,  that  we 
ascertain  the  story  of  the  straining  of  the  friendly 
relations  between  the  whites  and  the  natives. 

One  incident,  perhaps  better  than  any  other  re- 
corded, except  that  of  his  disclosure  to  Winslow  of 
the  plot  against  the  colonies,  serves  to  illustrate  the 


MASSASOIT 


123 


extent  to  which  the  old  chief  was  influenced  by- 
gratitude  for  favors  received  and  love  for  his  friends. 
In  1637  Arthur  Peach,  a former  servant  of  Wins- 
low’s, with  three  accomplices,  killed  a Narragan- 
sett  Indian  in  cold  blood.  We  shall  see  more  of  the 
details  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  Miantonomo,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  concluding  the  brief  mention  here 
we  will  let  Roger  Williams  tell  the  story.  In  his 
letter  to  Governor  Winthrop  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Colony,  he  says,  “Ousamequin  coming  from 
Plymouth  told  me  that  the  four  men  were  all  guilty. 
I answered  but  one;  he  replied  true,  one  wounded 
him,  but  all  lay  in  wait  two  days  and  assisted.  Also 
that  the  principal  must  not  die,  for  he  was  Mr. 
Winslow’s  man;  and  also  that  the  Indian  was  by 
birth  a Nipmuck  man,  so  not  worthy  that  any 
other  man  should  die  for  him.” 

Williams  had  been  banished  from  Salem  two 
years  before  this  and  on  his  way  to  the  Narragansett 
country,  “on  foot  and  alone  in  the  dead  of  winter,” 
he  had  been  kindly  entertained  by  Massasoit  at 
Sowams;  and  they  appear  to  have  been  on  very 
friendly  terms  thereafter. 

I cannot  refrain,  in  passing,  from  referring  to  one 
little  pleasantry  of  the  Great  Sachem  at  the  ex- 
pense of  Winslow  and  his  friends,  and  I will  let  the 
old  chronicler  tell  the  story.  “Mr.  Winslow  com- 
ing in  his  bark  from  Connecticut  to  Narragansett, 
— and  he  left  it  there,  — and  intending  to  return 
by  land,  he  went  to  Osamekin  (Massasoit),  the  saga- 
more, his  old  ally,  who  offered  to  conduct  him  home 
to  Plymouth.  But  before  they  took  their  journey, 


124 


MASSASOIT 


Osamekin  sent  one  of  his  men  to  Plymouth  to  tell 
them  that  Mr.  Winslow  was  dead;  and  directed 
him  to  show  how  and  where  he  was  killed.  Where- 
upon there  was  much  fear  and  sorrow  at  Plymouth. 
The  next  day  when  Osamekin  brought  him  home, 
they  asked  him  why  he  sent  such  a word  etc.  to 
which  he  answered  that  it  was  their  manner  to  do 
so,  that  they  might  be  more  welcome  when  they 
came  home.” 

Perhaps  the  best  tribute  to  the  character  of  the 
Great  Sachem  extant  is  contained  in  the  lamenta- 
tion of  Hobamock  as  poured  into  the  ears  of  Wins- 
low and  Hamden  when  on  their  way  to  visit  him 
in  his  sickness  in  1623.  He  told  them  they  would 
never  see  his  like  again  among  the  Indians,  con- 
tinuing, “He  is  no  liar,  he  was  not  bloody  and 
cruel  like  other  Indians;  in  anger  and  passion  he 
was  soon  reclaimed,  easy  to  be  reconciled  toward 
such  as  had  offended  him,  ruled  by  reason  in  such 
measure  as  he  would  not  scorn  the  advice  of  mean 
men;  and  that  he  governed  his  men  better  with  few 
strokes  than  others  did  with  many,  truly  loving 
where  he  loved;  yea,  he  feared  we  had  not  a faith- 
ful friend  left  among  the  Indians;  showing  how  he 
had  oft  times  restrained  their  malice  etc.  continuing 
a long  speech,  with  such  signs  of  lamentation  and 
unfeigned  sorrow  as  would  have  made  the  hardest 
heart  relent.” 

Such  was  the  tribute  of  one  of  his  counsellors  and 
men  of  valor,  who  had  lived  with  him  and  under  his 
rule,  who  had  sat  with  him  in  council  and  followed 
him  on  the  warpath. 


MASSASOIT 


125 


Carver,  Bradford,  Winslow,  Brewster,  Standish, 
in  fact  all  the  men  who  played  a leading  part  in  the 
opening  scene  of  the  drama  enacted  upon  the  bleak 
New  England  coast,  passed  from  the  stage  of  hu- 
man action,  leaving  the  old  chief  still  directing  the 
affairs  of  his  federation;  but  finally,  he  too  laid 
down  the  sceptre  and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers 
in  whose  faith  he  died,  having  refused  to  accept  the 
white  man’s  religion,  though  undoubtedly  hearing  it 
preached  from  time  to  time.  Whether  his  own  in- 
herent honesty  revolted  at  the  practices  of  the  men 
who  professed  a higher  religion,  we  do  not  know; 
and  whether,  in  his  declining  years  he  read  in  the 
encroachments  of  the  men  he  had  befriended,  the 
approaching  doom  of  his  own  people  is  wholly  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  The  exact  date  of  his  de- 
parture from  earth  to  the  land  of  Ponemah  is  not 
recorded,  nor  does  any  one  know  where  his  remains 
were  buried.*  Drake  says  he  was  alive  as  late  as 
September,  1661,  but  a deed  given  by  Wamsutta 
dated  April  8,  1661,  conveying  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Attleboro,  begins  “Know  All  Men  by 
These  Presents  that  I,  Wamsutta,  alias  Alexander, 
Chief  Sachem  of  Pokanoket.”  This  leaves  some 
doubt  concerning  the  accuracy  of  Drake’s  conclu- 
sion, although,  like  Passaconaway,  Massasoit  may 
have  surrendered  the  tomahawk  of  authority  to  his 
eldest  son  before  his  death. 

Gone  were  the  white  men  who  knew  him  in  his 
prime,  when  he  governed  his  people  “better  with 
few  strokes  than  others  with  many,”  when  he  “re- 
* See  note  at  end  of  chapter. 


126 


MASSASOIT 


strained  their  malice,”  and  stood  the  uncompromis- 
ing friend  of  the  English,  refusing  to  listen  to  the 
appeals  of  his  sub-chiefs  to  speak  the  word  which 
would  have  kindled  a holocaust  for  the  settlers. 
Gone  were  the  friends  of  his  early  days,  who  valued 
his  friendship  and  loved  him  for  his  native  honesty 
and  sincerity.  In  their  place  had  arisen  another 
generation,  interested  in  him  and  his  people  only  as 
the  possessors  of  land  they  coveted;  and  so  far  as 
we  know  not  a white  man  dropped  a tear  over  the 
cold  form  of  the  hero  who  had  so  often  stood  be- 
tween them  and  destruction. 

Of  him  General  Fessenden  well  says,  “This  Chief 
has  never  had  full  justice  done  to  his  character”: 
and  I have  not  attempted  anything  like  a complete 
biography.  Of  his  early  life  nothing  is  known  ex- 
cept the  glimpses  revealed  by  the  lamentation  of 
Hobamock  and  the  boasting  of  Annawon;  and  even 
subsequent  to  that  time,  there  are  so  many  voids, 
so  much  that  is  left  to  be  inferrred  from  the  writings 
of  contemporary  historians  that  the  task  is  well 
nigh  impossible.  My  only  purpose  has  been  to  call 
attention  to  the  qualities  he  possessed  in  such  a 
way  that  “full  justice  may  be  done  to  his  character.” 
So  little  is  really  known  of  his  early  life  that  his- 
torians have  not  been  able  even  to  tell  us  his  name, 
that  is,  the  name  bestowed  upon  him  at  birth. 
Massasoit  and  Ousamequin  are  the  two  names 
handed  down  to  us  by  the  early  writers;  and  each 
of  these  has  a multitude  of  variations.  “Massa- 
soyt”  is  the  way  Bradford  has  it  in  his  first  mention 
of  him,  and  undoubtedly  fairly  represents  the  sound 


MASSASOIT 


127 


as  he  heard  it  from  Samoset;  and  Prince  says,  “the 
ancient  people  from  their  fathers  in  Plymouth  pro- 
nounce it  Mas-sa-so-it.” 

Bicknell  tells  us  that  his  true  or  tribal  name  was 
Ousamequin,  made  up  of  ousa,  yellow,  and  mequin, 
feather,  (and  that  Massasoit  means  Great  Sachem. 
Others,  IPeirce  among  them,  think  that  he  changed 
his  name*  from  Massasoit  to  Ousamequin  in  1632, 
when  he  was  at  war  with  the  Narragansetts;  while 
still  others  believe  he  adopted  the  latter  name  on 
the  death  of  his  brother  Quadequina.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  known  to  the  Pilgrims  by  this 
name  until  long  after  his  first  appearance  among 
them,  but  this  really  signifies  nothing,  as  it  may 
well  be  that  they  were  in  ignorance  of  his  true  name 
for  a long  time,  calling  him  by  that  which  they 
heard  from  the  lips  of  Samoset;  and  that  worthy 
may  have  used  his  title  and  not  his  name  in  speak- 
ing of  him.  So  there  is  no  real  conflict  between 
Prince  and  Bicknell,  and  color  is  lent  to  the  claim 
of  the  latter  by  the  well  known  practice  among  the 
Indians  of  naming  their  children  for  some  tangible 
object,  either  animate  or  inanimate,  hence  Yellow 
Feather. 

Whatever  his  mother  may  have  called  him,  to 
whatever  name  he  may  have  responded  when  pro- 
nounced by  a fond  father  or  by  brothers  and  sisters, 
Massasoit  he  is  to  history,  and  Great  Sachem  he  was 
in  name  and  in  fact;  and  as  Massasoit  his  memory 
should  be  kept  green,  and  his  services  to  the  colo- 
nists, as  recorded  by  them,  perpetuated  for  the 
generations  yet  to  come;  generations  who  will  draw 


128 


MASSASOIT 


inspiration  and  new  courage  and  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  humanity  from  the  story  of  perils 
encountered,  and  hardships  endured  and  overcome 
by  the  fathers,  with  the  assistance  of  the  friendly 
natives  under  Massasoit,  in  establishing  upon  these 
shores  a haven  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  “an 
asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations.” 

It  is  to  Massasoit  that  we  pay  our  tribute  of  re- 
spect and  admiration  for  the  manly  virtues,  the 
heroic  qualities,  that  have  endeared  him  to  every 
true  American  who  has  taken  the  pains  to  analyze 
properly  the  records  and  acquaint  himself  with  the 
facts  that  go  to  make  up  the  beginning  of  American 
history. 

Note. — I am  Indebted  to  Miss  Virginia  Baker  of  Warren, 
R.I“  Ancient  Sowams  ” for  the  information  that  a few  years 
ago  an  Indian  burial  place  was  excavated  in  that  town,  and 
in  one  of  the  graves  were  found  a feather  war  bonnet,  the 
remains  of  two  fine  muskets  and  a roll  of  gold  lace.  All  these 
things  indicate  the  burial  place  of  a man  of  high  rank;  and 
the  known  fact  that  the  red  horseman’s  coat  presented  to 
Massasoit  by  Winslow  was  trimmed  with  gold  lace,  leads  to 
the  inquiry  whether  this  was  the  grave  of  that  great  chief. 


VI 


MASSASOIT’S  FAMILY 

WHILE  nothing  definite  is  known  of  Massa- 
soit’s  ancestry,  the  fact  that  the  Great  Chief- 
taincy of  the  federation  passed  from  him  to  his 
eldest  son  and  then  from  the  latter  to  a younger 
brother,  together  with  what  we  know  of  the  hered- 
itary character  of  the  position  among  the  other 
Algonquin  groups  and  tribes,  establishes  beyond 
question  his  connection  with  a line  of  kings. 
Whether  his  father  occupied  the  position  before 
him,  or  it  was  handed  down  collaterally,  does  not 
definitely  appear,  nor  is  it  of  any  special  interest, 
except  as  it  might  throw  some  light  upon  the  cus- 
toms and  laws  of  descent  of  this  particular  federa- 
tion, and  as  matter  of  genealogical  research,  which 
possesses  a fascination  for  most  men.  Who  the  man 
is  and  whence  he  came  are  always  questions  that 
arouse  our  interest  in  connection  with  those  who 
have  occupied  prominent  positions  in  the  affairs 
of  nations,  not  so  much  that  it  matters,  for  it  is  the 
man  that  counts,  but  that  we  sometimes  like  to 
speculate  upon  the  conditions  which  have  con- 
tributed to  the  production  of  the  character 
which  leaves  its  impress  upon  the  history  of  the 
times. 


129 


130 


MASSASOIT 


At  the  beginning  of  the  white  man’s  history  in 
New  England,  Massasoit  was  known  to  have  had 
two  brothers  living.  Whether  there  were  other 
brothers  or  sisters  does  not  appear.  Of  the  two 
brothers  mentioned  in  history,  Qtjadequina  accom- 
panied him  to  Plymouth  in  March,  1621,  and  is 
described  as  “a  very  proper,  tall  young  man  of  a 
very  modest  and  seemly  countenance.”  He  is 
generally  credited  with  being  one  of  the  two  “ Kings 
of  Pokanoket”  whom  Captain  Dermer  interviewed 
at  Nemasket  in  June,  1619,  this  conclusion  un- 
doubtedly being  drawn  from  the  fact  that  he  appears 
to  have  been  Massasoit’s  companion  at  and  after 
the  time  of  his  first  actual  introduction  to  history. 
He  was  probably  next  in  age  to  Massasoit,  as  the 
other  brother  does  not  appear  to  have  been  partic- 
ularly noticed  until  a much  later  date. 

The  part  played  by  him  in  the  affairs  of  the  tribe 
or  federation  and  in  their  dealings  with  their  neigh- 
bors and  the  whites  seems  to  have  been  an  inconse- 
quential one,  which  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
was  simply  a younger  brother  of  the  “King,”  and, 
in  consequence  of  his  royal  blood,  a close  counsellor 
and  frequent  companion.  He  died  within  a few 
years  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

The  second  brother  of  the  Great  Sachem  whose 
name  is  variously  written,  as  Akkompoin,  Uncom- 
pawen,  Woonkaponehunt,  and  Yucumpowet,  does 
not  appear  prominently  in  history  until  King 
Philip’s  war,  in  which  he  was  one  of  that  Great 
Sachem’s  chief  counsellors  and  war  captains,  al- 
though his  name  appears  with  that  of  Philip  on  an 


massasoit’s  family 


131 


agreement  made  with  the  Plymouth  authorities  on 
August  6,  1662,  where  it  is  written  under  that  of 
“Philip,  Sachem  of  Pokanoket,"  as  “Vucumpowet, 
unkell  to  the  above  said  Sachem."  As  I shall  not 
have  occasion  to  refer  to  him  again,  a word  concern- 
ing his  position  in  the  Chiefs’  Council  will  not  be 
out  of  place  here.  That  he  was  an  active  partici- 
pant in  the  affairs  of  the  federation  during  Philip’s 
reign  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  in  addition  to 
the  treaty  or  agreement  of  August  6,  1662,  he  also 
signed  with  Philip  two  others,  one  at  Taunton, 
April  10,  1671,  and  the  other  at  Plymouth,  Septem- 
ber 9,  1671.  He  is  known  to  have  been  with  Philip 
as  counsellor  and  captain  in  the  war  that  bears  the 
name  of  the  latter;  and,  in  this  capacity,  he  accom- 
panied Philip  on  an  expedition,  started  against 
Plymouth  in  July,  1676.  This  project  proving  not 
feasible,  the  party  turned  back  at  Bridgewater,  and 
having  felled  a tree  across  a river  in  the  line  of  their 
march,  to  be  used  as  a bridge,  Akkompoin,  who 
was  one  of  the  last  to  attempt  to  cross,  was  shot  by 
the  English  who  came  up  before  he  got  away.  This 
was  on  July  31,  1676,  and  it  was  this  same  bridge 
upon  which  Philip  was  seen  sitting  the  next  day, 
but  escaped. 

The  known  children  of  Massasoit  were  Wam- 
sutta,  Pometacom  or  Metacomet,  Sunconewhew, 
Amie,  and  possibly  another  daughter,  as  Philip  had 
a sister  who  was  captured  on  the  same  day  that  her 
uncle  Akkompoin  was  shot,  who  may  have  been 
Amie,  although  Peirce  says  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  it  was  she,  and  as  she  married  Tuspaquin 


132 


MASSASOIT 


who  had  a wife  living  in  September,  1676,  there  is 
very  good  reason  for  supposing  that  the  one  cap- 
tured in  July  was  not  Amie. 

Wamsutta  was  first  known  as  Mooanarn,  and 
both  he  and  his  younger  brother  Pometacom  were 
given  English  names  at  the  request  of  their  father 
who  brought  them  to  Plymouth,  apparently  for  that 
purpose,  Wamsutta  being  then  named  Alexander 
and  Pometacom,  Philip,  for  Alexander  the  Great  of 
Macedon  and  his  father  Philip,  respectively.  Wam- 
sutta succeeded  his  father  upon  the  death  of  the 
latter  or  possibly  before.  I have  already  called  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  he  signed  himself  “Chief 
Sachem  of  the  Pokanokets”  some  months  before  the 
last  date  at  which  some  writers  assert  that  Massa- 
soit  was  still  alive.  This  may  be  explained  on  the 
theory  that  the  aged  chief  turned  over  the  affairs 
of  the  federation  to  his  son  in  his  old  age.  Before 
he  assumed  the  active  management  of  the  tribal 
affairs,  he  seems  to  have  participated  with  his 
father  in  the  sales  of  land  and  the  making  of  treaties, 
whether  in  pursuit  of  some  arrangement  between 
themselves  by  which  Wamsutta  became  associated 
in  the  government,  or  at  the  insistence  of  the  Eng- 
lish to  guard  against  future  contingencies,  we  do 
not  know.  At  any  rate,  we  find  the  deed  of  Poka- 
noket  given  in  1653  signed  by  both,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  renewal  in  1639  of  the  original  league  of  Mas- 
sasoit  and  Carver,  or  of  Roger  Williams’  declara- 
tion that  when  he  first  came  to  the  Narragansett 
country,  in  1636,  Massasoit  and  Mooanarn,  his  son, 
gave  him  Seekonk,  which  the  Plymouth  colony 


massasoit’s  family  133 

claimed  under  their  grant  from  the  authorities  in 
England,  who,  of  course,  had  no  title  to  it. 

In  1662,  the  government  at  Plymouth  became 
suspicious  of  Wamsutta,  and  sent  Captain  Thomas 
Willett  to  investigate  the  truth  of  rumors  that  had 
reached  them  to  the  effect  that  the  sachem  was 
attempting  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts  in  a revolt  which  he  was  planning  against 
the  whites.  Willett  was  told  by  Wamsutta  that  the 
whole  story  was  a fabrication  of  the  Narragansetts 
to  injure  him  and  his  people  with  the  English.  He 
agreed  to  attend  the  next  session  of  the  Court  at 
Plymouth,  but  did  not  put  in  an  appearance.  The 
colonists  afterwards  concluded  from  some  rumors 
that  came  to  them  that  he  was  on  a visit  to  the 
Narragansett  country,  and  this  added  to  their  sus- 
picions, they  apparently  assuming  the  authority  to 
say  when  and  where  he  should  move,  and  never  giv- 
ing him  or  any  of  his  race  credit  for  visiting  another 
friendly  tribe  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  stir  up 
trouble  for  them.  The  government  then  sent 
Major  Winslow,  the  commandant  of  the  colonial 
militia,  to  bring  him  to  Plymouth,  just  as  though  he 
was  a common  criminal,  and  they  had  jurisdiction 
over  him. 

Like  his  father  before  him  and  his  brother  who 
followed  him  in  the  great  chieftaincy,  Wamsutta 
had  hunting  camps  at  various  places  in  what  re- 
mained of  his  domain.  There  is  known  to  have 
been  one  in  what  is  now  Raynham,  one  at  Titicut, 
and  one  on  the  shore  of  Munponset  Pond  in  Halifax. 
It  was  at  the  latter  that  Major  Winslow  found  him 


134 


MASSASOIT 


with  a number  of  his  warriors  at  breakfast  with  their 
guns  outside.  Of  the  three  early  writers  who  re- 
late this  incident,  two  say  he  had  eighty  men  with 
him,  and  the  other  says  eight.  Although  apprised 
of  the  approach  of  the  English,  he  made  no  attempt 
to  secure  his  arms  or  to  escape,  but  remained  quietly 
at  his  repast,  which  ought  to  have  been  enough  to 
disarm  the  suspicion  of  any  but  an  evil-minded  man 
looking  for  trouble;  but  not  Winslow.  He  took  the 
guns  and,  entering  the  lodge,  demanded  that  Wam- 
sutta  go  with  him  to  Plymouth,  a virtual  prisoner, 
to  answer  to  nothing,  to  men  who  had  no  authority 
over  him.  He  refused,  whereupon  Winslow,  pursu- 
ing the  usual  high-handed  methods  of  the  day, 
presented  a loaded  pistol  to  his  breast  threatening 
him  with  instant  death  if  he  persisted  in  his  refusal. 
After  a parley  with  his  people,  he  submitted,  and 
they  took  up  the  journey,  his  family  accompanying 
him.  He  was  offered  a horse,  but  declined,  saying 
if  the  women  and  children  could  walk,  he  could. 
The  party  spent  the  night  at  Major  Winslow’s 
house  in  Duxbury,  where  Wamsutta  was  stricken 
with  a raging  fever,  brought  on,  no  doubt,  by  the 
outrages  that  the  whites  had  perpetrated  upon  him. 
He  was  not  their  subject,  but  was  the  proud  ruler  of 
an  independent  people,  and  his  spirit  was  broken 
by  the  inhumanity  of  the  men  who  could  not  have 
secured  a foothold  upon  the  soil  without  the  protec- 
tion afforded  them  by  his  father.  Thus  are  the 
honest  mistakes  of  men  visited  upon  their  children. 

Wamsutta’s  people  begged  to  be  allowed  to  take 
him  to  his  home,  which  the  English  in  their  mag- 


massasoit’s  family 


135 


nanimity  permitted  on  condition  that  they  would 
return  him  to  Plymouth  when  he  had  recovered. 
He  was  called  to  a Higher  Tribunal,  however,  and 
let  us  hope  a more  just  and  merciful  one,  for  he  died 
while  descending  a river  in  his  canoe.  Thus  passed 
the  eldest  son  of  the  defender  of  the  colonies,  and 
thus  began  King  Philip’s  war  by  the  invasion  of 
Wampanoag  territory  by  armed  men,  and  the  cap- 
ture of  the  king  of  the  country  at  the  point  of  a 
loaded  pistol;  and  yet,  there  are  men  even  now,  who 
tell  us  that  King  Philip  started  the  trouble. 

Wamsutta  married  Tatapanum,  otherwise  called 
Weetamo,  and  known  to  history  as  the  “Squaw 
Sachem  of  the  Pocassets.”  She  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  daughter  of  Corbitant;  and  in  the  war 
which  resulted  from  the  series  of  outrages  of  which 
the  arrest  and  moral  murder  of  her  husband  was  the 
culmination,  she  followed  the  fortunes  of  her  brother- 
in-law  Philip,  twice  her  brother-in-law  in  fact,  for 
Philip  married  her  sister,  Wootonekanuske.  She 
was  a widow  when  Wamsutta  married  her,  and,  after 
his  death,  she  married  a third  husband  about 
whom  nothing  is  known  except  his  name,  Queque- 
quanchett.  She  subsequently  married  a fourth, 
Petononowit,  whom  she  left  in  consequence  of  his 
having  espoused  the  English  cause;  and  she  then 
formed  a liaison  with  a young  Narragansett  Sa- 
chem, Quinapen,  one  of  Philip’s  captains.  She  was 
drowned  by  the  breaking  up  of  a raft  near  Metta- 
poisett  in  August,  1676.  Word  had  reached  her 
that  the  English  forces  were  approaching,  and  there 
being  no  canoes  available,  she  attempted  to  escape 


136 


MASSASOIT 


on  an  improvised  raft  which  was  not  strong  enough 
to  withstand  the  buffeting  of  the  seas.  Her  body 
was  recovered  by  the  English  who  humanely  cut  off 
her  head  and  exposed  it  on  a pole  at  Taunton, 
where,  as  one  of  their  eminent  divines  scoffingly 
informs  us,  it  was  seen  by  some  of  her  people  who 
had  been  taken  prisoner,  who  set  up  a lamentation 
saying  it  “was  the  head  of  their  queen.”  Little 
did  the  poor  mourners  know  the  fate  that  was  in 
store  for  them,  or  they  might  have  raised  a prayer 
to  the  Great  Spirit  to  be  allowed  to  share  in  that 
of  their  “Queen.”  Slavery,  worse  than  death,  “the 
store  of  rods  for  free  born  backs  and  stocks  for  free 
born  feet,”  was  the  lot  reserved  for  them  by  their 
Christian  captors. 

No  doubt  the  apologists  for  the  colonists  will  say 
that  Weetamo  should  not  have  joined  in  Philip’s 
nefarious  scheme.  She  had  seen  her  people  robbed 
of  their  inheritance,  their  means  of  securing  a live- 
lihood taken  away  under  the  pretence  of  purchase, 
her  husband,  with  nothing  proved  against  him, 
dying  at  the  hands  of  the  men  whose  existence  had 
depended  upon  the  friendship  of  his  father,  as  truly 
as  though  he  had  been  given  the  deadly  poison 
which  his  people  always  believed  was  administered 
to  him;  but  in  spite  of  all  this,  she  should  have 
kissed  the  hand  that  smote  her. 

Pometacom,  Massasoit’s  second  son  and  Wam- 
sutta’s  successor  when  the  latter  died  in  1662, 
played  such  an  important  part  in  the  affairs  between 
the  Indians  and  their  oppressors  that  a separate 
chapter  will  be  devoted  to  him  and  his  captains. 


massasoit’s  family 


137 


Stinconewhew  was  the  third  son  of  Massasoit. 
But  little  is  known  of  him,  his  name  appearing  but 
once  of  which  I find  any  mention  in  connection  with 
the  so-called  sale  of  lands  to  the  English,  and  that 
with  Philip’s  on  a deed  confirming  the  sale  of  Re- 
hoboth  by  Massasoit  in  1641,  the  confirmatory  deed 
bearing  date  March  30,  1668.  It  is  said  that  Philip 
had  a brother  killed  July  18,  1775,  who  was  a great 
captain  and  had  been  educated  at  Harvard  College. 
As  there  is  no  record  of  any  other  sons  of  Massasoit 
except  these  three,  this  was  undoubtedly  Suncone- 
whew. 

Amie,  the  only  daughter  of  Massasoit  of  whom 
anything  definite  is  known,  married  Tuspaquin  of 
Assawamsett,  commonly  called  the  “Black  Sa- 
chem.” Their  oldest  son,  William  Tuspaquin,  fol- 
lowed his  father  in  fighting  for  his  people  in  King 
Philip’s  war,  in  the  early  part  of  which  he  met  his 
death.  Their  second  son  is  said  to  have  been  a 
noted  warrior,  and  to  have  had  a part  of  his  jaw 
bone  shot  away  in  battle.  We  are  left  in  doubt 
concerning  the  part  he  played  in  the  war,  whether 
he  was  fighting  with  his  own  people  or  with  the 
English.  He  is  mentioned  as  a member  of  Captain 
James  Church’s  company;  and  it  is  reported  that 
he  died  suddenly  after  the  war  while  sitting  in  his 
wigwam.  These  two  statements,  however,  are  not 
entirely  irreconcilable  with  the  supposition  that  he 
may  have  been  faithful  to  his  own  people,  as  he 
might  have  joined  Captain  Church’s  company  after 
the  war;  although  how  he  and  his  family  escaped 
slavery  is  almost  beyond  comprehension;  or  how  he 


138 


MASSASOIT 


came  to  die  suddenly  while  sitting  in  his  wigwam; 
for  while  the  men  of  note,  the  chiefs  and  sons  of 
chiefs  who  followed  Philip,  died  suddenly,  it  was  not 
while  sitting  in  their  wigwams. 

There  is  one  fact  that  lends  color  to  the  theory 
that  he  followed  the  fortunes  of  his  Great  Chief  as 
did  his  father  and  elder  brother,  and  that  is  the  in- 
dignation of  some  of  his  children  when  their  brother, 
Benjamin  Tuspaquin,  second,  married  Assawetough, 
or  Mercy  Felix,  the  daughter  of  John  Sassamon, 
whom  they  regarded  as  a traitor  to  his  people. 

The  only  known  descendants  of  Massasoit  now 
living  trace  their  lineage  through  this  son  of  his 
daughter,  Amie. 

In  1917,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
passed  the  following : 

“resolve  granting  annuities  to  teewe- 

LEEMA  MITCHELL  AND  HER  TWO  SISTERS,  OF 
THE  WAMPANOAG  TRIBE  OF  INDIANS. 

Resolved,  That  there  shall  be  paid  an- 
nually from  the  treasury  of  the  common- 
wealth, in  equal  quarterly  installments  from 
the  first  day  of  December,  nineteen  hundred 
and  sixteen,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars 
each  to  Teeweleema  Mitchell,  Wootone- 
kanuske  Mitchell,  and  Zeriah  Robinson, 
three  sisters,  aged  and  needy  Indian  women 
of  the  Wampanoag  tribe,  residents  of  Lake- 
ville, who  are  descendants  of  King  Philip’s 
sister,  and  descendants  of  Massasoit.  (Ap- 
proved February  21,  1917.)” 


MASSASOIT  S FAMILY 


139 


General  Ebenezer  W.  Peirce  in  his  “Indian  His- 
tory, Biography  and  Genealogy”  traces  the  descent 
of  these  three  women  from  Benjamin  Tuspaquin, 
giving  names  in  each  successive  generation,  and  men- 
tioning another  sister,  Emma  J.,  who  married  Jacob 
C.  Salford  and  had  two  children  living  at  the  time 
of  the  writing  of  his  book  in  1878.  I am  recently  in 
receipt  of  a communication  from  Charlotte  L. 
Mitchell,  the  Wootonekanuske  named  in  the  resolve 
quoted  above,  in  answer  to  an  inquiry,  in  which 
she  writes  that  one  of  these  children,  Helen  G.  Saf- 
ford  is  still  living,  but  is  confined  in  a hospital  for 
the  insane.  She  also  speaks  of  her  own  brother 
Alonzo  as  still  living,  unmarried  and  in  feeble 
health.  Of  the  three  annuitants  above  named,  Zer- 
viah  Robinson  was  born  (Mitchell)  June  17,  1828, 
Teeweleema  (known  as  Melinda)  April  11,  1836,  and 
Wootonekanuske  (known  as  Charlotte  L.),  my  cor- 
respondent, November  2,  1848. 

So  if  these  five  are  all  the  living  descendants  of 
Massasoit,  as  Peirce  asserts,  the  royal  line  will  be- 
come extinct  in  the  next  generation. 

In  1917,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  also 
passed  the  following: 

“resolve  to  authorize  the  payment  of 

AN  ANNUITY  TO  FANNIE  S.  BUTLER  THROUGH 
THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  CITY  OF  BOSTON. 

Resolved,  That  there  be  allowed  and  paid 
out  of  the  treasury  of  the  Commonwealth 
to  the  mayor  of  the  city  of  Boston  an  an- 
nuity of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  to 


140 


MASSASOIT 


be  expended  by  the  mayor  for  the  benefit  of 
Fannie  S.  Butler,  granddaughter  of  the  late 
Sylvia  Sepit  Thomas  and  daughter  of  the 
late  Mary  Angeline  Thomas  Butler,  mem- 
bers of  the  Wampanoag  tribe  of  Indians,  for 
the  rest  of  her  natural  life,  beginning  with 
the  first  day  of  December  in  the  year  nine- 
teen hundred  and  sixteen,  and  payable  in 
equal  quarterly  instalments. 

Chapter  one  hundred  and  seventeen  of 
the  resolves  of  the  year  nineteen  hundred 
and  fourteen  is  hereby  repealed.  (Approved 
February  17,  1917.)” 

This  was  an  increase  in  an  annuity  first  granted 
in  1914,  at  which  time  the  press  spoke  of  the  an- 
nuitant as  a descendant  of  Massasoit,  and  the  last 
of  the  Wampanoags.  That  she  is  a descendant  of 
Massasoit  is  contrary  to  the  conclusion  of  Peirce, 
and  evidently  was  not  satisfactorily  established  be- 
fore the  Committee  of  the  Legislature  which  con- 
sidered the  matter,  otherwise  they  would  have  been 
likely  to  set  out  that  fact,  as  they  did  in  the  case 
of  the  Mitchell  family.  Miss  Mitchell,  in  her  letter 
to  me,  says  that  Fannie  S.  Butler  is  not  of  the 
family.  That  she  is  not,  as  was  stated  in  the  news- 
papers of  that  day,  the  last  of  the  Wampanoags,  is 
conclusively  shown. 

My  correspondent  may,  however,  have  followed 
the  same  family  traditions  that  guided  Peirce  in  his 
writings,  which  fail  to  take  account  of  the  possibility 
of  other  branches  of  the  Benjamin  Tuspaquin 


massasoit’s  family 


141 


family.  This  writer  took  great  pains  to  trace  the 
descent  of  this  particular  branch,  but  appears  to 
have  been  content  to  establish  their  lineage  and 
rest  there.  He  names  the  four  children  of  Benja- 
min, as  Esther,  Hannah,  Mary  and  Benjamin 
second. 

Esther  married  Tobias  Sampson,  a “praying  In- 
dian” who  lived  on  the  reservation  set  off  by  re- 
solve of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  in 
1701,  and  is  said  to  have  died  without  issue.  There 
was  an  Esther  Sampson  living  on  the  reservation  in 
1764,  but  whether  the  same  or  another  of  the  same 
name  is  not  clear,  although  there  is  some  reason  for 
believing  that  it  was  not  Benjamin’s  daughter. 

Hannah  married  and  had  two  children,  neither  of 
whom  married. 

Mary  married  Isaac  Sissel  and  had  three  chil- 
dren, Mary,  Mercy  and  Arabella.  The  family  tra- 
dition says  that  two  of  them  died  in  infancy;  but 
in  1764,  Mary  and  Mercy  were  on  the  reservation. 
This  leaves  only  Arabella  unaccounted  for;  and  it 
is  so  easy  to  drop  a link  in  the  attempts  to  pass 
such  matters  down  from  generation  to  generation 
that  it  may  well  be  that  there  were  two  children  of 
Isaac  and  Mary  Sissel  who  died  in  infancy,  besides 
these  three;  and  that  Arabella,  like  Mary  and 
Mercy,  may  have  lived  to  womanhood,  but  unlike 
them,  she  may  have  married  and  left  progeny  who, 
through  the  long  lapse  of  time  and  by  reason  of  the 
remoteness  of  the  relationship,  may  have  been  lost 
sight  of  by  those  who  attempt  to  hand  down  tradi- 
tions without  complete  records. 


142 


MASSASOIT 


Benjamin  second,  as  I have  at  least  suggested  if 
not  plainly  stated,  married  Assawetough,  a daugh- 
ter of  John  Sassamon,  the  Indian  alleged  to  have 
been  murdered  for  disclosing  to  the  whites  King 
Philip’s  plan  for  a general  uprising  among  the  In- 
dians; and  who,  according  to  tradition,  was  the 
same  man  who  had  given  to  him  for  his  services  in 
the  Pequot  war,  and  as  his  share  of  the  spoils  ofj 
that  war,  a “young  little  squaw,”  whom  he  after- 
wards married  and  who  is  said  to  be  a daughter  of 
Sassacus.  If  the  family  tradition  which  connects 
John  Sassamon  with  the  Massachusetts  Indian  of  a 
somewhat  similar  name  who  served  with  the  Eng- 
lish in  the  war  against  Sassacus  is  reliable,  it  will  be 
seen  that  this  “young  little  squaw”  became  the 
mother  of  Assawetough  or  Mercy  Felix,  as  she 
appears  in  history  and  tradition;  and  that  their 
great  grandchildren,  the  Mitchell  family  of  Lake- 
ville, are  descended  in  the  direct  line,  not  only  from 
Massasoit,  but  also  from  Sassacus,  the  Pequot 
Chief;  for  Benjamin  and  Mercy  had  one  daughter, 
named  Lydia,  who  married  an  Indian  named 
Walmsley  and  had  five  children. 

Four  of  these  do  not  appear  in  the  pages  of  any 
known  history,  biography  or  genealogy;  nor  do  any 
public  records,  so  far  as  known,  indicate  what  be- 
came of  them.  Whether  they  married  and  have 
descendants  living  is  not  definitely  known,  not- 
withstanding the  “family  tradition.” 

The  fifth,  Paul,  had  seven  children,  four  of  whom 
are  not  mentioned  beyond  their  names;  two  of 
whom  are  mentioned  by  Peirce  as  having  married, 


massasoit’s  family 


143 


and  are  left  there;  and  the  other,  Phebe,  was  the 
mother  of  the  annuitants  named  in  the  first  of  the 
resolves  quoted  above.  The  records  of  those  early 
days  were  not  as  complete  as  those  of  today;  and 
it  may  well  be  that  some  of  these  whom  I have  men- 
tioned have  handed  down  the  blood  of  the  Great 
Sachem,  the  “friend  of  white  men,”  to  succeeding 
generations. 

In  1701,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  set 
aside  a tract  of  land  in  what  was  then  Freetown 
but  is  now  a part  of  Fall  River,  as  a reservation  for 
the  friendly  Indians,  and  of  the  twenty-five  lots 
into  which  this  reservation  was  divided,  four,  num- 
bered 19,  20,  21,  and  22,  were  assigned  to  the  lineal 
descendants  of  Benjamin  Tuspaquin.  At  the  first 
survey  of  these  lots  in  1707,  Isaac  Sissel  received  as 
his  share  lot  No.  20.  In  1764,  on  the  second  sur- 
vey, this  lot  was  in  possession  of  his  daughters, 
Mercy  and  Mary.  At  this  second  survey,  lot  No. 
19  was  found  to  be  in  possession  of  “Sarah  Squin 
and  Esther  Sampson,”  said  to  be  grandchildren  of 
Benjamin  Squamnaway. 

The  ease  with  which  Tuspaquin  could  be  con- 
tracted to  Squin,  together  with  the  fact  that  these 
two  women  were  occupying  a lot  assigned  to  the 
descendants  of  Tuspaquin,  leads  to  the  conclusion 
that  Benjamin  Squamnaway  was  Benjamin  Tuspa- 
quin. The  only  Esther  Sampson  mentioned  in 
history  in  connection  with  the  descendants  of  Mas- 
sasoit,  outside  of  this  reference,  was  the  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Tuspaquin,  and  she  died  childless.  It  is 
possible,  of  course,  that  the  Esther  Sampson  who 


144 


MASSASOIT 


was  on  that  lot  in  1764  was  Benjamin  Tuspaquin ’s 
daughter  and  not  his  granddaughter;  but  this  is 
extremely  doubtful,  for  in  that  case  she  would  be 
the  sister  of  Benjamin  Tuspaquin  second  who  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  John  Sassamon  and  the  young 
little  squaw  whom  he  had  given  to  him  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Pequot  war,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  years  before,  and  Sassamon  had  been  dead 
ninety  years  at  the  time  of  this  second  survey  of  the 
lots. 

However  it  may  be,  there  is  a numerous  family  in 
Fall  River  and  vicinity  who,  through  an  old  family 
tradition,  claim  descent  from  the  Esther  Sampson 
who  resided  on  the  reservation  in  1764.  If  this 
tradition  is  well  founded,  and  if  “Sarah  Squin  and 
Esther  Sampson”  were  granddaughters  of  Benjamin 
Tuspaquin,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  this  family  of 
which  I write  are  lineal  descendants  of  Massasoit. 
To  all  appearances  they  are  pure  whites,  although 
there  is  another  strain  of  Indian  blood  running 
through  the  family  besides  the  one  I have  men- 
tioned. 

I speak  of  this  matter,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  the  claim  of  any  particular  persons  to 
the  honor  of  the  royal  blood  of  the  house  of  Massa- 
soit, as  it  will  be  noticed  that  I have  carefully  re- 
frained from  any  mention  of  names;  but  to  call 
attention  to  the  ease  with  which  a people  may  be 
lost  in  so  far  as  its  original  identity  is  concerned,  and 
yet  may  live  on  and  on  through  the  intermingling  of 
its  blood  with  that  of  other  races,  with  the  result 
that  after  a few  generations  all  direct  trace  of  it  is 


massasoit’s  family 


145 


lost  by  reason  of  the  incompleteness  of  the  early 
records.  So  it  may  well  be  that  the  blood  of  Mas- 
sasoit  and  other  noted  warriors  and  chiefs  of  the 
early  days  flows  in  the  veins  of  men  who  are  them- 
selves ignorant  of  the  fact. 


VII 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK 

IT  is  doubtful  if  more  welcome  words  of  greeting 
ever  fell  on  mortal  ears  than  those  that  broke 
the  startled  air  of  Leyden  Street  in  Plymouth  on  the 
sixteenth  day  of  March,  1621,  when  the  little  group 
of  weary  Pilgrims  gathered  there  heard  from  the 
lips  of  Samoset  those  words  which  have  gone  ringing 
down  the  ages  as  the  greeting  of  the  new  world  to 
the  voyagers  from  the  old.  They  had  crossed  a 
storm-swept  sea,  had  been  attacked  by  the  natives 
at  Nauset,  and  finally  had  effected  a landing  at  Ply- 
mouth, the  “Plimoth  on  Captain  John  Smith’s 
map.”  Here  they  had  endured  the  hardships  of  a 
severe  New  England  winter,  and  had  suffered  from 
the  ravages  of  disease  which  had  greatly  reduced 
their  numbers.  They  had  not  been  molested  by 
the  Indians,  although  in  the  early  spring  they  had 
seen  some  of  them  prowling  about  the  settlement, 
and  on  one  occasion,  some  tools  had  been  stolen 
while  the  workmen  were  at  dinner.  An  air  of  un- 
certainty pervaded  the  place,  and  the  appearance  of 
the  natives  must  have  recalled  with  some  misgiving 
the  reception  accorded  them  at  Nauset.  They  had 
no  reason  to  expect  any  different  greeting  here,  and 
the  “Welcome,  Englishmen”  from  the  lips  of  Samo- 

146 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  147 

set  must  have  sounded  like  the  “benediction  that 
follows  after  the  prayer.” 

Samoset  told  them  he  was  not  of  these  parts,  but 
from  Moratiggon,  “eastward  a day’s  sail  with  a 
great  wind,  and  five  days  by  land.”  He  also  told 
them  that  the  name  of  the  place  where  they  had 
landed  was  Patuxet,  and  that  the  people  who  had 
occupied  it  had  been  swept  away  by  a pestilence 
four  years  before.  He  told  them  about  Squanto,  a 
native  of  the  place,  who  had  been  carried  away 
across  the  water  and  could  speak  English,  and  about 
a Great  Sachem  “Massasoyte,”  or  “the  Massa- 
soits,”  as  one  writer  puts  it,  who  lived  to  the  west, 
and  had  sixty  warriors  under  him.  After  partaking 
of  their  hospitality  for  the  night,  he  went  away 
saying  he  would  bring  Massasoit.  That  he  did  not 
go  to  So  warns,  forty  miles  distant,  is  certain,  for  he 
appeared  again  the  same  day,  and  Massasoit  did  not 
come  to  Plymouth  until  the  twenty-second.  It  is 
probable  that  the  Indians  who  had  been  seen  about 
the  place  were  Nemaskets,  a tribe  occupying  the 
territory  around  what  is  now  Middleboro,  and 
subject  to  Massasoit,  or  possibly  Massachusetts 
Indians;  and  that  some  of  these,  at  Samoset ’s 
suggestion,  conveyed  the  intelligence  to  Sowams, 
Massasoit’s  village,  that  the  English  had  encamped 
upon  the  hunting  grounds  of  his  extinct  tribe. 
When  Samoset  returned  on  the  seventeenth,  he 
brought  five  others  with  him,  and  they  returned 
all  the  tools  that  had  been  stolen. 

Samoset  plays  but  little  part  in  the  history  of  the 
colony  from  that  time,  but  his  name  is  a household 


148 


MASSASOIT 


word  in  New  England  to  this  day,  and  his  message 
to  the  worn  and  weary  Pilgrims  is  one  of  the  great 
outstanding  incidents  in  the  early  settlement  which 
will  be  taught  to  our  children  as  long  as  American 
history  cherishes  the  tradition  of  the  men  who  laid 
its  foundations. 

He  was  a sagamore  of  “Moratiggon”  (Monhe- 
gan,  off  the  coast  of  Maine),  closely  associated  with 
the  Pemaquids,  if  not  of  them;  and  he  told  the  Ply- 
mouth settlers  of  the  fishing  there  and  conducted 
their  fishing  boats  to  the  grounds.  He  had  picked 
up  a little  English  from  the  crews  of  ships  that  had 
been  there  to  fish.  What  errand  or  mission  brought 
him  to  the  territory  of  the  Wampanoags  in  that 
early  spring  of  1621  will  never  be  definitely  known; 
but  his  casual  presence  at  that  time  renders  his 
name  coeval  with  our  history,  and  gives  him  a last- 
ing place  in  the  annals  of  New  England.  Of  his 
subsequent  life  little  is  known  except  that  historians 
have  connected  him  prominently  with  the  territory 
around  Pemaquid,  Maine,  and  identify  him  with 
Captain  John  Somerset,  who  signed  a deed  of  land 
in  that  vicinity  on  July  15,  1625. 

Squanto,  whom  Samoset  mentioned  as  one  who 
had  been  to  England,  and  could  speak  English  better 
than  he  could,  was  a Patuxet.  His  name  is  given  as 
Tisquantum  by  many  early  writers,  and  that  is  prob- 
ably his  true  name,  it  being  shortened  by  the  Eng- 
lish to  that  by  which  he  is  known.  As  we  have 
already  seen,  he  was  one  of  the  twenty-seven  natives 
whom  Captain  Thomas  Hunt  had  carried  away  and 
sold  into  slavery  in  1614.  After  his  release  he  had 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  149 

been  taken  to  England  where  he  had  lived  for  some 
time  with  a man  named  Slaine,  and  had  apparently 
been  kindly  treated,  probably  with  a view  to  utiliz- 
ing his  knowledge  of  the  New  World  in  future  trad- 
ing expeditions.  He  had  learned  some  English,  and 
came  back  to  this  countiy  with  Captain  Thomas 
Dermer  either  in  1619  or  on  an  earlier  voyage. 
Some  writers  say  that  upon  his  return  he  became  a 
great  chief,  but,  if  this  is  true,  it  must  have  been 
prior  to  1617,  as  his  tribe  was  destroyed  by  the 
plague  in  that  year.  He  was  interpreter  for  Cap- 
tain Dermer  when  the  latter  met  two  “Kings 
of  Pokanoket”  at  “ Nummastaquit  ” (Nemasket). 
Mourt,  in  his  Relations,  speaks  of  him  as  “the  only 
native  of  Patuxet  where  we  now  inhabit,”  but  Brad- 
ford says,  “He  was  a native  of  this  place  and  scarce 
any  left  alive  besides  him  selfe.”  The  latter  state- 
ment is  undoubtedly  the  correct  one,  as  the  same 
writer,  in  speaking  of  an  episode  that  occurred  the 
following  year,  mentions  members  of  his  family. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  he  acted  as  interpreter 
between  Governor  Carver  and  Massasoit  at  the 
memorable  first  interview  of  the  Great  Sachem  with 
the  Governor,  and,  from  that  time  until  his  death, 
he  was  of  invaluable  service  to  the  English. 

Perhaps  the  best  estimate  of  the  value  of  his 
services  may  be  made  by  a consideration  of  what 
Bradford  says  about  the  matter:  “He  directed  them 
how  to  set  their  corne,  wher  to  take  fish,  and  to  pro- 
cure other  commodities,  was  also  a pilott  to  bring 
them  to  unknown  places  for  their  profitt,  and  never 
left  them  till  he  dyed.”  On  another  occasion  he 


150 


MASSASOIT 


wrote:  “He  showed  them  both  the  maner  how  to 
set  it  (corn)  and  after  how  to  dress  and  tend  it. 
Also  he  tould  them  except  they  gott  fish  and  set 
with  it  (in  these  old  grounds)  it  would  come  to  noth- 
ing, and  he  showed  them  that  in  the  middle  of  April 
they  should  have  store  enough  come  up  the  brooke, 
by  which  they  begane  to  build,  and  taught  them 
how  to  take  it.”  Winslow,  too,  adds  a word  along 
the  same  line.  He  says:  “We  set  some  twentie 
acres  of  corn  and  sowed  some  six  acres  of  barley  and 
pease,  and  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Indians, 
we  manured  our  ground  with  Herings  or  rather 
Shadds,  which  we  have  in  great  abundance  and  take 
with  great  ease  at  our  doores.”  Captain  John 
Smith  had  previously  alluded  to  the  Indian  method 
of  fertilizing  their  corn,  saying,  “they  stick  at  every 
plant  of  corne,  a herring  or  two;  which  cometh  in 
that  season  in  such  abundance,  they  may  take  more 
than  they  know  what  to  doe  with.”  Squanto  con- 
tinued with  the  English  from  the  time  of  his  first 
introduction  to  them  by  Samoset,  adopted  their 
religion,  and  died  of  a sudden  sickness  accompanied 
with  bleeding  at  the  nose,  a common  malady  among 
the  natives,  while  on  a trading  expedition  to  Cape 
Cod  with  Governor  Bradford  in  September,  1622. 

The  value  of  his  services  is  almost  beyond  esti- 
mate, and  they  appear  to  have  been  appreciated  at 
their  full  worth  by  the  early  settlers.  Like  the  rest 
of  his  race,  he  seems  to  have  been  ambitious  and 
jealous,  his  jealousy  manifesting  itself  principally 
towards  Hobamock;  and  his  ambitious  designs  were 
believed  by  the  authorities  to  embrace  the  estab- 


SAMOSET,  SQTJANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  151 

lishment  of  a powerful  federation  of  Indians  with 
himself  at  its  head.  Some  further  reference  will  be 
made  to  these  traits  of  his  character  in  connection 
with  his  relations  with  Hobamock,  another  early 
friend  and  constant  assistant  to  the  English  in  their 
hunting,  fishing  and  trading  expeditions. 

Hobamock  has,  by  his  own  statement,  given  us  a 
very  definite  idea  of  his  position  in  his  tribe.  In 
his  defence  of  Massasoit  in  1622,  he  said  he  was  a 
“paniese,”  that  is  one  of  Massasoit’s  “chiefest  cham- 
pions or  men  of  valor.”  He  was  not  only  a Wam- 
panoag,  but  a Pokanoket,  a member  of  the  ruling 
tribe  in  the  federation,  and  of  the  Great  Sachem’s 
council.  He  was  among  those  who  gathered  at  his 
bedside  when  he  was  thought  to  be  dying  in  March, 
1623,  and  the  one  whom  Massasoit,  in  the  presence 
of  all  his  counsellors,  charged  to  tell  Winslow  about 
the  plot  against  the  whites.  He  came  to  Plymouth 
shortly  after  the  episode  of  the  lost  John  Billington, 
as  already  related,  and  may  have  been  the  messenger 
sent  by  Massasoit  to  tell  the  settlers  where  Billing- 
ton was.  He  had  not  been  long  with  them  when 
he  showed  his  fidelity  to  his  Great  Chief  and  to  the 
men  whom  he  had  befriended.  In  August,  1621, 
scarcely  a month  after  he  came  to  the  English,  Cor- 
bitant  of  Pocasset,  who  appears  to  have  been  a 
mischief  maker,  waylaid  him  and  Squanto  in  a 
house  at  Nemasket,  and  threatened  them,  as  Brad- 
ford says,  “for  no  other  cause  than  that  they  were 
friendly  to  the  English  and  serviceable  to  them.” 
Hobamock  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  and 
hastened  to  Plymouth,  a distance  of  fifteen  or  six- 


152 


MASSASOIT 


teen  miles.  Here  he  told  the  governor  of  Squanto’s 
plight  and  a force  of  fourteen  men  was  sent  to  rescue 
Squanto  if  he  was  alive,  or  to  punish  Corbitant,  if 
he  had  been  killed.  On  arriving  at  the  house  where 
they  had  been  captured,  the  whites  surrounded  it, 
but  soon  learned  that  Squanto  was  alive,  having 
been  threatened  only,  and  that  Corbitant  had  gone 
away  in  the  night,  probably  through  fear  of  the  con- 
sequences that  were  likely  to  follow  his  attempt  to 
remove  or,  at  least,  to  frighten  the  men  who  were 
of  so  much  service  to  the  English,  once  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  scheme  became  known  to  the  latter,  as 
he  well  knew  it  would  be  from  the  moment  that 
Hobamock  broke  away  from  him. 

Thus  we  see  that  Hobamock’s  first  notable  serv- 
ice to  the  settlers  was  in  saving  to  them  “their 
tongue,”  as  Corbitant  called  Squanto,  and  in  doing 
this  he  also  saved  the  life  of  the  man  who  soon 
after  began  his  plottings,  not  only  against  the  one 
who  had  saved  him,  but  also  apparently  against  the 
Great  Sachem  of  both  of  them.  Hobamock  was 
probably  as  much  concerned  in  doing  what  he  be- 
lieved would  be  the  will  of  his  chief  in  this  matter, 
as  in  saving  Squanto  or  aiding  the  English,  for 
knowing  of  Massasoit’s  friendship  for  them,  he  un- 
doubtedly felt  that  he  would  not  countenance  this 
outrage  against  their  friend  and  helper.  Besides, 
there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  Corbitant 
was  an  ambitious  chief  and  if  a favorable  opportu- 
nity arose  for  displacing  Massasoit  as  the  head  of 
the  federation  without  danger  of  a miscarriage  of 
his  schemes,  he  would  not  put  it  aside.  In  any 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  153 

attempt  of  this  sort,  he  would  have  to  reckon  with 
the  English,  and  so  they  must  first  be  rendered 
powerless.  Whatever  may  have  been  Hobamock’s 
motives,  his  act  resulted  in  much  good  to  the  col- 
onists. 

Hobamock  remained  with  them  through  the  win- 
ter and  in  the  spring  when  they  were  fitting  out  their 
shallop  to  go  to  Massachusetts  Bay  to  trade  with 
the  Indians  there,  in  accordance  with  an  assurance 
they  had  previously  given  them  to  do  so,  “Hoba- 
mock told  them  of  rumors  he  had  that  they  (the 
Massachusetts)  were  joined  with  the  Narragansetts 
and  might  betray  them  if  they  were  not  careful.” 
He  also  gave  them  a hint  of  some  jealousy  manifested 
by  Squanto  towards  him,  which  he  had  gathered 
from  whisperings  between  the  former  and  other 
Indians.  That  his  suspicions  of  Squanto  in  this 
direction  were  well  founded  was  soon  demonstrated, 
for,  notwithstanding  the  misgivings  aroused  by  these 
rumors,  they  sent  the  shallop  away  with  both 
Squanto  and  Hobamock  on  board,  deeming  it  best 
to  send  them  both  along  on  account  of  this  jealousy. 
They  had  hardly  got  under  way  when  an  Indian  of 
Squanto’s  family,  as  Bradford  says,  came  running  in, 
“in  seeming  great  fear,”  and  told  them  that  the 
Narragansetts  and,  he  thought,  Massasoit  were  com- 
ing against  them,  and  he  got  away  to  tell  them,  not 
without  danger.  He  said  there  was  a gathering  at 
Nemasket  and  that  he  had  received  a blow  for  speak- 
ing for  the  English,  and  his  face  was  wounded.  He 
told  them  the  Indians  were  determined  to  take 
advantage  of  Captain  Standish’s  absence  on  the 


154 


MASSASOIT 


trading  expedition  to  assault  the  town.  The  gov- 
ernor called  the  men  to  arms  and  fired  a gun  to  re- 
call the  shallop.  They  had  not  got  beyond  reach 
of  the  signal  and  returned,  but  no  Indians  appeared. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Hobamock  protested 
his  confidence  in  Massasoit,  saying  “flatly  that  it 
was  false”  and  that  he  “presumed  he  would  never 
have  undertaken  any  such  act  without  his  privity, 
it  being  the  manner  amongst  them  not  to  undertake 
such  enterprises  without  the  advice  and  furtherance 
of  men  of  his  rank.  The  governor  replied  that  he 
should  be  sorry  that  any  cause  of  war  should  arise 
with  any  of  the  savages,  but  especially  Massaso- 
wat,  not  that  he  feared  him  more  than  the  rest,  but 
that  his  love  more  exceeded  toward  him  than  any.” 
Hobamock  replied,  “there  was  no  cause  for  distrust 
and  therefore  he  should  do  well  to  continue  his 
affections.”  I have  quoted  freely  from  Winslow’s 
account  of  this  episode  because  it  illustrates  Squan- 
to’s  plotting  and  Hobamock’s  confidence  in  his  chief 
in  the  manner  of  one  who  saw  the  entire  proceeding. 
That  Hobamock’s  faith  was  justified  soon  appeared. 
The  governor  caused  him  to  send  his  wife  to  So- 
wams  privately  to  see  what  she  could  learn  of  the 
situation,  “pretending  other  occasion,  but  nothing 
was  found  and  all  was  quiet,”  as  Bradford  relates. 
This  woman  finding  no  indication  of  anything 
unusual  among  the  Pokanokets  told  Massasoit  of 
Squanto’s  accusations.  Naturally,  “Massasoit  took 
offence  and  came  to  Plymouth  to  clear  himself  and 
showed  his  anger  towards  Tisquantum.”  After  his 
return  to  his  own  village  he  sent  a messenger  to 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  155 

Governor  Bradford,  “entreating  him  to  give  way 
to  the  death  of  Tisquantum  who  had  so  much  abused 
him.”  Bradford  was  reluctant  to  lose  the  services 
of  so  valuable  a man,  and  urged  his  usefulness  as 
an  interpreter,  but  Massasoit  remained  obdurate, 
and  demanded  Squanto  as  a “subject  whom  the 
governor  could  not  retain  without  violating  the 
treaty.”  He  also  offered  many  beaver  skins  for 
Bradford’s  consent,  the  messengers  saying,  “their 
Sachem  had  sent  his  own  knife  and  them  therewith 
to  cut  off  his  head  and  hands  and  bring  them  to 
him.” 

The  governor  sent  for  Squanto,  who,  on  being 
confronted  with  the  accusation  against  him,  charged 
Hobamock  with  being  the  cause  of  his  overthrow; 
but  said  he  would  abide  by  the  governor’s  decision 
although  he  knew  what  his  fate  would  be  if  re- 
turned to  Massasoit.  Winslow  says  the  governor 
was  about  to  give  him  up  when  a boat  appeared  at 
sea,  and  being  fearful  of  the  French,  he  told  the 
Indians,  “he  would  first  know  what  boat  that  was 
ere  he  would  deliver  him  into  their  custody  (not 
knowing  whether  there  was  a combination  of 
French  and  Indians).  Mad  with  rage  and  im- 
patient at  delay  the  messengers  departed  in  great 
heat.”  This  is  Winslow’s  account,  and  to  us,  look- 
ing at  it  after  the  lapse  of  three  hundred  years,  the 
“great  heat”  causes  no  surprise.  The  Indians  were 
not  so  silly  as  not  to  see  through  the  subterfuge, 
and  to  read  Bradford’s  determination  to  use  every 
excuse  and  employ  every  pretended  reason  that 
presented  itself  for  not  complying  with  the  terms 


156 


MASSASOIT 


of  the  treaty,  when  it  was  to  his  disadvantage  to 
live  up  to  its  obligations. 

The  demand  was  not  renewed,  and  Squanto  was 
saved,  but  a marked  coolness  on  the  part  of  Massa- 
soit  soon  manifested  itself  and  caused  the  settlers 
some  uneasiness.  As  I have  already  suggested,  the 
offence  of  Squanto,  although  committed  in  the  ter- 
ritory over  which  the  colonists  had  jurisdiction,  was 
against  his  own  Great  Sachem.  He  was  a subject 
of  Massasoit.  The  only  jurisdiction  the  English 
had  over  him  was  to  punish  acts  against  themselves. 
By  Carver’s  pact  he  should  have  been  delivered  to 
his  own  people  to  be  dealt  with  by  them  according 
to  their  own  customs  in  such  cases.  Bradford  recog- 
nizes this  fact,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  justify  his 
refusal;  and  Winslow  tells  us  the  governor  was 
about  to  give  him  up  when  a boat  appeared  in  the 
harbor,  and  Bradford  seized  upon  that  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  further  delaying  Massasoit ’s  messengers. 
Squanto  also  knew  that  he  ought  to  be  turned  over 
to  his  own  people  and  stoically  consented  to  that 
course,  if  the  governor  should  so  decide.  To  Mas- 
sasoit and  his  messengers  Bradford  only  argued  his 
usefulness,  which  was  unquestionably  great,  and  the 
governor’s  evasiveness  nearly  cost  the  colony  the 
friendship  of  Massasoit.  That  Squanto  was  actu- 
ated by  his  own  selfish  and  ambitious  designs  was 
apparent  to  the  authorities;  for  about  this  time  in 
consequence  of  the  incident  of  the  spring  of  1622, 
and  Hobamock’s  report  of  “many  secret  passages 
between  Squanto  and  other  Indians,”  as  well  as 
other  things  that  came  to  their  attention,  Bradford 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  157 

says:  “They  began  to  see  that  Tisquantum  sought 
his  owne  ends  and  plaid  his  owne  game,  by  putting 
the  Indians  in  fear,  and  drawing  gifts  from  them 
to  enrich  himself e;  making  them  believe  he  could 
stir  up  war  against  whom  he  would  and  make  peace 
for  whom  he  would.  Yea,  he  made  them  believe 
they  kept  the  plague  buried  in  the  ground  and 
could  send  it  amongst  whom  they  would,  which  did 
much  terrifie  the  Indians,  and  made  them  depend 
more  on  him,  and  seeke  more  to  him  than  to  Massa- 
soyte;  which  procured  him  envye,  and  had  like  to 
have  cost  him  his  life.  For  after  the  discovery  of 
his  practices,  Massasoit  sought  it  both  privately  and 
openly;  which  caused  him  to  stick  close  to  the 
English,  and  never  durst  goe  from  them  till  he 
dyed.” 

Fully  appreciating  the  value  of  Squanto’s  assist- 
ance to  the  people  of  Plymouth,  the  searcher  after 
truth  cannot  ignore  the  fact  that  his  ambitious 
scheming  probably  came  near  to  costing  them  their 
lives.  The  plot  of  the  Massachusetts  and  other 
tribes  in  the  spring  of  1623  which  was  foiled  by 
Standish  and  his  indomitable  eight,  would  un- 
doubtedly not  have  been  revealed  but  for  Massa- 
soit’s  restoration  to  health  at  the  hands  of  Winslow, 
and,  if  not  nipped  in  the  bud,  would  have  been  quite 
likely  to  have  been  attended  with  success.  Massa- 
soit’s  failure  to  disclose  it  earlier  was  clearly  due  to 
a doubt  on  his  part  of  the  sincerity  of  the  professed 
friendship  of  the  English,  and  that  doubt  was 
aroused  by  the  conduct  of  the  governor  in  protecting 
Squanto  after  his  perfidy  to  his  Great  Sachem  be- 


158 


MASSASOIT 


came  known,  contrary  to  the  terms  of  Carver’s  and 
Massasoit’s  treaty.  Squanto  died  before  the  full 
effect  of  his  conduct,  or  before  the  possible  effect  of 
it  became  known,  and  sleeps  in  the  grave  where 
white  men  laid  him  with  Christian  rites.  There  let 
him  rest,  and  let  us  not  too  severely  criticise  him. 
He  was  but  following  the  dictates  of  a trait  of  hu- 
man character,  that,  while  inordinately  developed 
in  the  race  of  American  Indians,  is  common  to  all. 
Shakespeare  makes  Cardinal  Wolsey  say  to  his  de- 
voted follower,  “Cromwell,  I charge  thee,  fling  away 
ambition.  By  that  sin  fell  the  angels.  How  then 
can  mortal  man  hope  to  win  by  it?”  We  do  not 
agree  with  this  thought,  but  rather,  how  can  mortal 
man  win  without  it?  The  only  difficulty  is  to  direct 
it  in  the  right  paths  and  keep  it  within  proper 
bounds.  Neither  of  these  was  Squanto  able  to  do. 
In  the  words  of  Parkman,  let  us  attribute  his  act  to 
the  working  of  “the  ordinary  instincts  of  humanity” 
which  “should  be  classed  with  the  other  enigmas  of 
the  fathomless  heart.” 

During  the  brief  space  of  his  life  after  the 
discovery  of  his  schemes,  the  English  took  full 
advantage  of  this  jealousy  between  him  and  Hoba- 
mock  to  secure  better  service  from  both  by  playing 
them  against  each  other,  — the  governor  “seeming  to 
countenance  one  and  Standish  the  other.” 

Like  Squanto,  we  are  told  that  Hobamock  re- 
mained with  the  English  until  he  died.  The  last 
mention  made  of  him  by  Bradford  is  in  connection 
with  the  Day  of  Humiliation  in  July,  1623.  Like 
Squanto,  too,  he  was  of  invaluable  assistance  to  the 


SAMOSET,  SQUANTO  AND  HOBAMOCK  159 

English,  unquestionably  of  much  greater  service  in 
their  trading  expeditions  among  the  tribes  on  the 
cape  and  around  Massachusetts  Bay,  by  reason  of 
his  rank  and  standing  in  his  own  tribe,  than  he 
could  otherwise  have  been,  the  mere  fact  that  he 
was  one  of  Massasoit’s  “chiefest  men  of  valor”  and 
war  counsellors,  adding  to  his  prestige  and  the 
standing  of  the  men  for  whom  he  virtually  stood 
sponsor. 

Thus  passed  from  the  stage  three  men  whose 
activities  had  such  a marked  influence  upon  the 
earhest  successful  attempt  at  colonization  in  New 
England  that  their  names  and  deeds  are  known  to 
thousands  of  American  children  who  probably  could 
not  name  the  first  three  governors  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony. 


VIII 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 

WHEN  Winslow  and  Hopkins  visited  Sowams  in 
July,  1621,  they  learned  from  the  Pokanokets 
that  across  the  bay  lived  a powerful  federation  that 
had  not  been  touched  by  the  plague.  We  find  them 
sometimes  referred  to  by  early  writers  as  Narrow- 
hansetts,  which  perhaps  was  as  nearly  correct  as  the 
Englishman  who  heard  the  name  spoken  could  re- 
produce the  sound.  The  spelling  was  subsequently 
changed  to  Nariganset  and  finally  to  Narragansett, 
and  it  is  by  this  latter  name  that  they  are  known 
to  history.  We  are  told,  on  authority  as  reliable 
as  any  we  have  concerning  the  Indian  tribes  of  New 
England,  that  they  numbered  twenty  or  twenty-five 
thousand  with  a war  strength  of  from  three  to  five 
thousand,  and  occupied  all  the  territory  westerly 
from  Narragansett  Bay  and  Providence  River  to 
the  Pequot  country,  which  extended  to  Wecapoag 
about  five  or  six  miles  east  of  the  Paucatuc  River, 
the  dividing  line  between  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island. 

The  Narragansetts  formed  the  second  of  the  five 
great  federations  of  New  England  Indians  as  enu- 
merated by  Gookin,  and  dignified  by  Drake  with  the 
designation  Great  Sachemries.  They  had  un- 
160 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


161 


doubtedly  been  visited  by  the  English  before  1621; 
some  writers,  as  we  have  already  seen,  claiming  that 
the  episode  of  Captain  Waymouth  with  the  Indians 
in  1605,  as  related  by  Rofier,  occurred  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  country.  The  French  frequented  the  bay 
for  fishing  according  to  the  information  given  to 
Winslow  by  the  people  of  Sowams,  and  so  they 
were  not  unacquainted  with  the  whites. 

Hutchinson  says  Tashtussuch  was  their  Chief 
Sachem  when  the  English  arrived.  If  this  is  true 
he  did  not  long  remain  in  that  position  after  their 
arrival,  his  grandson  Canonicus  being  at  the  head 
of  the  federation  in  the  summer  of  1621.  It  is  re- 
lated of  Tashtussuch  that  he  had  two  children,  a son 
and  a daughter,  and,  being  unable  to  match  them 
according  to  their  station  and  dignity,  he  joined 
them  in  marriage.  Four  sons  were  born  of  this 
union  of  whom  Canonicus  was  the  oldest,  and  Mas- 
cus,  the  father  of  Miantonomo,  the  youngest. 
Miantonomo  succeeded  his  uncle  Canonicus,  and, 
after  his  murder  on  Sachem’s  Plain,  he  was  in  turn 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Pessacus,  who  was  said  to 
have  been  only  twenty  years  old  when  he  assumed 
the  chieftaincy.  Pessacus  was  succeeded  by  Mian- 
tonomo’s  son  Canonchet  who  was  the  leader  of  the 
federation  in  Kong  Philip’s  war,  and  who  met  the 
same  fate  as  his  father.  By  what  law  of  descent 
the  chieftaincy  passed  from  Miantonomo  to  his 
brother  and  then  back  to  his  own  line  again,  we  do 
not  know;  unless  the  line  was  simply  preserved  for 
Miantonomo ’s  son  by  some  sort  of  regency  during 
his  minority;  or  unless  the  Great  Chieftaincy  was 


162 


MASSASOIT 


an  elective  position,  or  a great  Sachem  had  the 
power  to  name  his  successor,  both  of  which  sugges- 
tions will  hereafter  receive  further  consideration. 

Pessacus  is  probably  better  known  to  history  as 
Canonicus,  his  appearance  under  that  name  after 
the  death  of  the  first  Canonicus,  and  especially 
after  the  death  of  Miantonomo,  leading  to  some 
confusion  of  him  with  his  grandfather  by  those  who 
read  only  superficially.  Another  son  of  Mascus 
was  Meika,  who  was  also  called  by  several  other 
names,  and  was  probably  the  Mishuano  who  mar- 
ried a daughter  of  Ninigret,  named  Magnus,  later 
known  as  the  “Sunke  Squaw”  or  "Old  Queen  of  the 
Narragansetts.” 

That  Canonicus,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
federation  in  1621,  was  a great  warrior  seems  to  be 
generally  conceded,  although  almost  nothing  has 
been  handed  down  to  indicate  the  way  in  which  he 
earned  the  reputation,  or  the  particular  wars  in 
which  he  engaged.  The  Pequots  on  the  west  must 
have  caused  him  some  trouble  to  prevent  them 
from  pushing  further  to  the  east  than  they  did; 
and  he  did  not  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  the 
Pokanokets  across  the  bay  at  all  times.  Of  his 
people  it  is  asserted  by  some  writers  that  they  were 
related  to  the  Mohicans,  and  by  others  that  they 
were  related  to  the  Niantics,  both  of  which  state- 
ments are  probably  true  in  the  sense  that  they  were 
all  Algonquins  of  the  Wolf  totem,  as  indeed  were 
all  the  New  England  Indians.  Their  relationship 
to  these  two  tribes  may  have  been  closer  than  with 
some  of  the  others  in  point  of  time  of  their  branch- 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


163 


mg  off  from  the  parent  stock;  and  one  is  sometimes 
led  to  ask  how  much  any  one  really  knows  about 
the  matter,  as  we  find  Ninigret  spoken  of  by  some 
writers  as  a Niantic  Sachem  and  by  others  as  a 
Narragansett,  and  the  leader  of  the  tribes  of  the 
latter  federation  that  joined  the  English  in  King 
Philip’s  war.  Whatever  relationship  there  may 
have  been  between  them,  if  we  are  to  accept  as 
final  a very  doubtful  conclusion  of  early  writers,  it 
was  not  close  enough  to  allay  the  alleged  jealousy  of 
Miantonomo,  who  had  succeeded  his  uncle  Canoni- 
cus  as  Chief  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  over  the 
division  of  the  remnant  of  the  Pequots  among  the 
three  tribes  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Pequot  war; 
nor  to  prevent  the  Mohicans  under  Uncas  from 
becoming  the  “most  deadly  enemies  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,” when  the  former,  by  reason  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  Pequots,  became  the  dominant  tribe 
in  the  old  Pequot,  later  the  Mohican,  federation. 

The  settlers  were  to  hear  from  them  again  very 
shortly,  for  in  November,  1621,  Canonicus  sent  one 
of  his  men,  accompanied  by  a friendly  Indian 
named  Tokamahamon,  probably  a Pokanoket, 
to  Plymouth,  with  a bundle  of  arrows  tied  in  a 
rattlesnake’s  skin.  Squanto  and  Hobamock  were 
both  absent  at  the  time  of  their  arrival,  and  the 
Governor  decided  to  detain  the  messenger  until 
their  return.  In  the  meantime  “Captain  Standish 
tried  to  find  out  from  him  what  it  meant.  He  said 
he  did  not  surely  know,  but  thought  it  meant  hos- 
tilities.” Standish  and  Hopkins  finally  succeeded 
in  allaying  his  fears,  and  induced  him  to  talk; 


164 


MASSASOIT 


whereupon  he  told  them  that  the  messenger  whom 
Canonicus  had  sent  in  the  summer  to  treat  of  peace, 
upon  his  return  “persuaded  him  rather  to  war,  and, 
to  the  end  that  he  might  provoke  him  thereunto, 
detained  many  of  the  presents  sent  to  Canonicus, 
scorning  the  meanness  of  them,  both  in  respect  of 
what  he  had  sent  the  English  and  the  greatness  of 
Canonicus.” 

He  assured  them  that  “upon  the  knowledge  of  the 
false  carriage  of  the  former  messenger  it  would  cost 
him  his  life,”  and  that  “upon  the  relation  of  their 
speech  then  with  him,  to  his  master,  he  would 
be  friends  with  the  Pilgrims.”  Squanto,  having 
returned,  then  interpreted  the  message  in  the  same 
way  that  the  bearer  of  it  had  done.  Governor 
Bradford  took  the  skin,  filled  it  with  powder  and 
shot  and  returned  it  to  Canonicus,  with  a message 
of  defiance,  and  invited  him  to  a trial  of  strength. 
Canonicus  refused  to  receive  it  and  sent  it  back  to 
Plymouth,  and  thus  trouble  was  averted. 

I have  told  the  story  as  related  by  Bradford,  but 
I find  that  some  writers  put  it  a little  differently, 
fixing  the  time  as  February,  1622,  and  saying  that 
Canonicus’  messenger  left  the  challenge  and  re- 
tired. At  any  rate,  the  governor’s  defiance  had 
the  desired  effect  and  the  English  were  not  molested 
by  the  Narragansetts  for  fifteen  years;  although  we 
are  told  by  Bradford  that  the  English  were  in  great 
fear  of  them  in  1622. 

In  his  description  of  the  building  of  a fort  at  Ply- 
mouth in  the  summer  of  that  year,  after  describing 
the  fort  in  detail,  he  says:  “It  served  them  also  as 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


165 


a meeting  house,  and  was  fitted  accordingly  for  that 
use.  It  was  a great  work  for  them  in  this  weakness 
and  time  of  wants;  but  the  danger  of  the  time  re- 
quired it,  and  both  the  continual  rumors  of  the 
fears  from  the  Indians  here,  especially  the  Narigan- 
sets,  and  also  the  hearing  of  that  great  massacre  in 
Virginia  made  all  hands  willing  to  despatch  the 
same.” 

In  1632,  war  broke  out  between  the  Narragansetts 
and  the  Wampanoags  in  which  the  former  were, 
without,  doubt,  the  aggressors.  The  English,  as  in 
duty  bound  by  their  original  treaty  with  Massasoit, 
came  to  the  aid  of  their  allies,  the  Wampanoags,  and 
the  war  was  of  very  short  duration. 

The  first  serious  affair  that  threatened  discord 
between  the  whites  and  the  Narragansetts  directly, 
was  the  murder  of  John  Oldham  in  1636.  Oldham 
had  sailed  to  Connecticut  to  trade  with  the  Pequots, 
and  on  his  return  had  been  murdered  by  Indians  at 
Munisses  (Block  Island).  These  Indians  were  Nar- 
ragansetts, and  one  early  writer  suggests  that  they 
were  probably  angered  by  the  fact  that  Oldham  was 
engaged  in  trade  with  their  most  deadly  enemies. 
Upon  complaint  of  this  atrocity  being  made  by  the 
whites  to  Canonicus,  he  sent  his  nephew,  Mianto- 
nomo,  with  two  hundred  men  to  punish  the  offenders. 

Canonicus  and  Miantonomo  succeeded  in  satisfy- 
ing the  colonists  that  this  was  the  act  of  some  reck- 
less members  of  the  tribe,  and  that  they  were  not 
concerned  in  it;  and  returned  Oldham’s  two  boys, 
who  were  taken  prisoners  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  had  been  held  by  their  captors. 


166 


MASSASOIT 


On  October  21, 1636,  Miantonomo  with  two  sons  of 
Canonicus  and  twenty  other  Indians  went  to  Bos- 
ton to  give  notice  of  the  threatening  attitude  of  the 
Pequots;  and  while  there  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  the  authorities  by  which  each  side  bound  itself 
not  to  make  peace  with  the  Pequots  without  the 
consent  of  the  other. 

Following  close  on  the  heels  of  this  warning  by 
the  friendly  Narragansetts  came  confirmation  of  the 
word  brought  to  Boston  by  Miantonomo;  for  on 
February  22,  1637,  the  Pequots  attacked  Saybrook 
and  on  April  12,  Weathersfield,  both  in  Connecticut. 
During  this  period  Miantonomo  had  received  other 
information  which  he  deemed  of  sufficient  import- 
ance to  send  messengers  to  Boston  to  impart  to  the 
authorities  there;  for  at  some  time  during  the  early 
spring  he  sent  word  that,  following  a custom  among 
the  Indians  before  an  impending  war  of  great  mag- 
nitude, the  Pequots  had  sent  their  women  and  chil- 
dren away  to  an  island.  A force  of  forty  men  was 
thereupon  raised  and  sent  to  Narragansett  to  join 
Miantonomo ’s  warriors  in  an  advance  against  the 
Pequots.  Aside  from  the  part  played  by  the  Nar- 
ragansetts in  the  attack  upon  the  Pequot  fortress, 
any  account  of  this  war  would  be  out  of  place  in 
this  chapter. 

Historians  tell  us  that  the  Narragansetts  were  of 
very  little  service  in  the  attack  upon  the  Pequot 
fort,  holding  themselves  aloof  and  contenting  them- 
selves with  stopping  such  as  fled.  It  is  inconceiv- 
able that  Narragansett  warriors,  who  have  never  been 
accused  of  cowardice  in  the  face  of  their  enemies, 


THE  NAKRAGANSETTS 


167 


led  by  such  men  as  were  at  their  head  at  that  time, 
would  refuse  or  hesitate  to  go  against  their  mortal 
foes,  when  aided  by  the  English,  without  some  good 
cause;  and  this  well-known  propensity  of  theirs  to 
mingle  in  the  thickest  of  the  fighting  lends  color  to 
their  claim  that  they  had  been  slighted  by  the  Eng- 
lish; and  that  Miantonomo,  after  performing  good 
service,  had  been  insulted  and  even  threatened  with 
bodily  injury.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  this 
connection  that  the  Mohicans  under  Uncas  fought 
with  the  Connecticut  troops  in  this  war;  and  that 
the  natives  were  inordinately  jealous  of  any  slight 
placed  upon  their  cheifs  or  tribe.  It  is  among  the 
possibilities  that  the  Mohicans,  and  Uncas,  their 
sachem,  being  on  very  friendly  terms  with  Captain 
Mason,  the  commander  of  the  expedition,  may  have 
received  some  recognition  or  consideration  at  the 
hands  of  the  whites  that  was  not  extended  to  the 
Narragansetts  and  their  chief.  Probably  nothing 
would  sooner  kindle  their  resentment,  as  they  were 
the  much  more  powerful  federation  of  the  two; 
their  chief  came  of  an  illustrious  ancestry;  and 
they,  like  most  other  Indians,  were  likely  to  con- 
sider themselves  a little  superior  to  their  neighbors. 
If  this  surmise  is  correct,  it  was  the  fault  of  the 
whites  themselves  that  they  received  no  assist- 
ance from  the  Narragansetts;  for  they  had  lived 
among  the  Indians  long  enough  to  have  learned 
this  trait  of  their  character,  and  they  should  have 
avoided  anything  that  would  arouse  the  jealousy 
of  one  of  their  allies  as  against  the  other.  With 
them  a slight  would  be  an  insult  to  their  chief,  and 


168 


MASSASOIT 


the  threat  of  bodily  injury  might  have  followed 
some  protest  on  his  part  against  the  treatment  of 
his  people,  and  resulted  from  it.  If  the  Indian 
claim  of  insult  is  well  founded,  it  shows  a woful  lack 
of  diplomacy  on  the  part  of  the  whites,  and  their 
usual  utter  failure  to  manifest  any  appreciation  of 
favors  done  or  services  rendered;  for  it  was  Mian- 
tonomo  himself  who  had  gone  to  Boston  in  October 
to  warn  the  English,  and  had  sent  word  of  the  re- 
moval of  the  Pequot  women  and  children,  and  ap- 
prised the  authorities  of  what  such  a removal  meant. 

Besides,  Bradford  tells  us  that  in  1636  there  had 
been  a war  between  the  Pequots  and  the  Narragan- 
setts,  saying,  “these  Narigansets  held  correspond- 
ance  and  termes  of  friendship  with  the  English  of 
the  Massachusetts.”  In  this  war  the  Mohicans  un- 
doubtedly fought  with  the  Pequots,  being  of  their 
federation,  and  the  Narragansetts  probably  saw  in 
their  abandonment  of  the  then  titular  head  of  the 
federation  a crafty  scheme  on  the  part  of  Uncas  to 
overthrow  Sassacus,  as  he  had  several  times  before 
attempted  to  do,  and  place  his  own  tribe  in  the 
dominant  position,  and  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
nation,  supported  by  English  muskets  in  the  hands 
of  English  soldiers.  That  this  was  a fact  was  sub- 
sequently clearly  demonstrated. 

Bradford  also  tells  us  that  following  the  truce 
after  this  war  Governor  Vane  of  Plymouth,  with 
Roger  Williams’  assistance,  made  a treaty  with  the 
Narragansetts.  This  would  be  at  about  the  same 
time  that  Miantonomo  made  the  treaty  with  the 
authorities  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  of 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


169 


which  I have  already  written.  These  are  the  first 
formal  treaties  between  the  whites  and  the  Narra- 
gansetts  of  which  I find  any  record,  unless  we  are 
to  dignify  the  agreement  before  referred  to  with 
the  name  of  a treaty. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Pequot  war  in  which 
they  were  practically  wiped  out,  some  two  hundred 
survivors  were  distributed  among  the  Mohicans, 
Niantics  and  Narragansetts.  This  division  is  said 
to  have  angered  the  Narragansetts,  and  is  given  as 
a reason  for  an  alleged  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
latter  to  raise  a general  conspiracy  against  the 
English  in  1640,  the  details  of  which  belong  more 
properly  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  Miantonomo. 

1643  was  the  year  of  Miantonomo’s  ill-fated 
expedition  against  the  Mohicans.  Sequassen,  a Sa- 
chem of  the  Connecticut  Valley,  apparently  ‘not  con- 
nected with  any  of  the  great  federations,  unless 
DeForest’s  conclusion  that  all  the  tribes  of  West- 
ern Connecticut  were  related  to  the  Narragan- 
setts is  correct,  was  friendly  to  Miantonomo  and 
hostile  to  Uncas.  Some  difficulty  arising  between 
him  and  Uncas  over  the  killing  of  one  of  the  subjects 
of  the  latter  by  one  of  Sequassen’s  men,  and  an 
alleged  attempt  upon  the  life  of  Uncas  by  shooting 
at  him  while  he  was  paddling  his  canoe  in  the  Con- 
necticut River,  Uncas,  as  usual,  instead  of  taking 
the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  neither  he  nor  Se- 
quassen being  under  the  guardianship  of  the  English, 
complained  to  the  authorities  at  Hartford,  claiming 
that,  for  this  and  other  acts,  he  ought  to  have  six 
of  Sequassen’s  men  that  he  might  put  them  to 


170 


MASSASOIT 


death.  The  authorities  for  some  unaccountable 
reason  thought  this  unfair,  and  the  governor 
finally  induced  him  to  be  content  with  the  man  who 
had  committed  the  murder.  I say  for  some  unac- 
countable reason,  because  a careful  reading  of  the 
history  of  that  time  leads  one  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  Connecticut  authorities,  frequently  aided  by 
those  of  the  Massachusetts  colonies,  seemed  more 
intent  upon  aiding  the  Mohicans  than  upon  doing 
justice;  and  I am  at  a loss  to  understand  this  lapse 
from  their  usual  policy. 

But,  to  return  to  the  assassin,  he  was  found  to  be 
a friend  and  relative  of  Miantonomo,  and  Sequas- 
sen  refused  to  give  him  up,  probably  relying  on  the 
Narragansetts  to  support  him.  And  again  the 
magistrates  showed  remarkable  acumen,  for,  being 
unable  to  effect  a reconciliation,  they  dismissed  both 
Uncas  and  Sequassen,  advising  Uncas,  however,  to 
avenge  his  own  grievances.  Uncas  thereupon  in- 
vaded Sequassen’s  territory,  burned  and  plundered 
as  he  went,  and  killed  some  seven  or  eight  men  and 
wounded  others. 

Miantonomo  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  sit  by 
and  see  his  allies  treated  in  this  manner  without 
taking  some  action  looking  towards  their  assistance, 
and  he  accordingly  complained  to  Uncas’  friends, 
the  authorities  of  Connecticut.  The  governor  re- 
fused to  interfere;  and  Miantonomo  gave  notice  to 
the  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  inquired 
if  the  people  of  Massachusetts  would  be  offended  if 
he  made  war  against  the  Mohicans.  This  notice  and 
inquiry  was  in  strict  compliance  with  the  terms  of 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


171 


the  treaty  he  had  made  with  them.  The  governor 
replied,  “If  Uncas  had  done  him  or  his  friends  any 
wrong,  and  had  refused  to  grant  satisfaction,  the 
English  would  leave  him  to  choose  his  own  course.” 

He  then  collected  a force  of  nine  hundred  or  a 
thousand  warriors  and  marched  to  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  Uncas  went  out  to  meet  him  and  adopted 
just  such  a course  as  one  would  expect  of  him.  He 
asked  for  a conference  with  Miantonomo  between 
the  two  opposing  forces  (a  virtual  truce)  and  Mian- 
tonomo, with  the  honor  of  his  race,  believing  that 
his  enemy  would  adhere  to  its  traditions  and  cus- 
toms, granted  his  request.  Uncas  then  submitted  a 
proposition  that  he  knew  Miantonomo  would  not 
accept,  and  which  he  probably  would  not  have 
made  if  he  had  believed  it  would  be  accepted.  He 
proposed  that  the  two  chiefs  settle  the  conflict  by 
a personal  combat  between  them.  Miantonomo  re- 
fused, saying,  “my  men  came  to  fight  and  they  shall 
fight.”  Uncas  then  fell  to  the  ground,  this  being 
the  prearranged  signal  for  a shower  of  arrows  from 
three  hundred  Mohican  bows  against  their  unpre- 
pared enemies  who  were  within  easy  shot,  and  en- 
tirely unsuspicious  of  any  such  an  act  of  perfidy. 

This  is  the  incident  of  which  Bradford  writes 
that  Miantonomo  “came  suddenly  upon  him  with 
nine  or  ten  hundred  men,  never  denouncing  any  war 
before.  Uncas  had  only  about  half  so  many  but  it 
pleased  God  to  give  Uncas  the  victory.”  If  they 
believed  that  the  God  they  worshipped  was 
“pleased”  with  such  treachery  as  this,  it  may  ex- 
plain their  own  treatment  of  the  Indians;  and  as  to 


172 


MASSASOIT 


the  Narragansetts  “never  denouncing  any  war  be- 
fore,” I am  unable  to  find  any  record  of  Uncas’ 
“denouncing  any  war”  before  he  invaded  the  terri- 
tory of  Sequassen,  Miantonomo’s  weak  ally,  and 
killing  his  men  and  laying  waste  his  country;  or, 
for  that  matter,  of  the  Plymouth  authorities  them- 
selves “denouncing  any  war”  at  a later  date  when 
they  sent  Major  Winslow  with  an  armed  force  to 
seize  Wamsutta  in  his  own  domain  and  bring  him 
to  Plymouth  at  the  point  of  a loaded  pistol,  because 
of  some  suspicion. 

When  the  shower  of  arrows  fell  upon  them  the 
Narragansetts  fled.  Miantonomo  was  wearing  an 
English  corselet  which  impeded  his  flight,  and  some 
pursuing  Mohicans  contented  themselves  with  get- 
ting in  his  way  so  as  to  hinder  him  further,  in  order 
that  Uncas  himself,  who  appears  not  to  have  been 
in  the  front  ranks  of  the  pursuers,  might  have  the 
honor  of  taking  him.  The  story  of  Miantonomo’s 
fate  belongs  in  another  place;  and  I will  pass  on  to 
the  effect  of  his  murder  upon  the  Narragansetts. 

The  following  winter  the  Indians  on  the  Connect- 
icut River,  probably  Sequassen’s  men,  made  much 
trouble;  and  the  Narragansetts  urged  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  “that  they  be  allowed  to  make 
war  upon  Uncas,  saying  he  had  received  a ransom  for 
Miantonomo’s  life  and  then  executed  him;  but  per- 
mission was  refused,  and  they  were  put  off  with  a 
promise  that  if  it  was  shown  that  ransom  had  been 
received  they  would  cause  Uncas  to  return  the 
same.” 

With  their  usual  happy  faculty  for  believing 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


173 


what  they  wanted  to,  the  colonial  council  decided 
the  issue  against  the  Narragansetts.  The  latter, 
unable  to  get  any  satisfaction,  then  signed  an  agree- 
ment not  to  open  hostilities  until  the  next  planting 
of  corn,  and  even  then  to  give  the  English  thirty 
days  notice.  Bradford  says  they  also  agreed  that 
“if  any  of  the  Nayantick  Pequots  should  make  any 
assault  upon  Uncas  or  any  of  his,  they  would  give 
them  up  to  the  English  to  be  punished,  and  that 
they  would  not  procure  the  Mowacks  to  come 
against  him  during  this  truce.” 

I have  spoken  of  this  agreement  as  of  the  time 
of  the  Narragansetts’  complaint  in  the  winter  fol- 
lowing Miantonomo’s  death,  although  some  writers 
fix  the  time  of  its  making  as  coincident  with  the 
mockery  of  a trial  that  was  accorded  to  Miantonomo. 

These  events  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1643  and 
the  winter  following;  and,  in  1645,  the  trouble 
between  the  two  federations  broke  out  again  with 
fresh  violence,  of  which  Roger  Williams  wrote  to 
Winslow  on  June  25th  of  that  year  as  follows:  “The 
Narragansets  and  Monhiggens,  with  their  respec- 
tive confederates,  have  deeply  implunged  them- 
selves in  barbarous  slaughter.  For  myself,  I have 
(to  my  utmost)  diswaded  our  neighbours  high  and 
low  from  armes,  etc.  but  there  is  a spirit  of  des- 
peracion  fallen  upon  them,  resolved  to  revenge  the 
death  of  their  prince,  and  recover  the  ransom  for 
his  life,  etc.  or  to  perish  with  him.” 

Following  this  outbreak  the  Colonists  patched  up 
some  sort  of  a truce  between  the  Narragansetts  and 
Niantics  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Mohicans  on  the 


174 


MASSASOIT 


other,  as  usual  placing  all  the  burden  on  the  former; 
for  they  succeeded  in  some  way,  not  made  entirely 
clear,  in  getting  the  signatures  of  their  leaders  to  an 
agreement  to  keep  the  peace  with  the  English 
United  Colonies,  Uncas  and  others,  without  requir- 
ing the  Mohicans  to  keep  their  hands  off  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  or  their  allies  west-  of  the  Connecticut 
River.  This  was  signed  by  Pessacus,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  a brother  of  Miantonomo  and  suc- 
ceeded him  as  Chief  Sachem  of  the  federation,  Mee- 
kesano,  probably  Meika  or  Mishuanno,  another 
brother  of  Miantonomo,  who  had  married  Magnus 
the  “Old  Queen  of  the  Narragansetts”  who  parti- 
cipated in  King  Philip’s  war,  and  Witowash,  all 
described  as  Sachems  of  the  Narragansetts,  An- 
nesquem,  deputy  of  the  Niantics,  Abdas,  Pummash 
and  Cutchamakin. 

The  spirit  of  the  Narragansetts  seems  to  have 
been  broken  by  their  failure  to  secure  any  satisfac- 
tion or  justice  from  the  English,  and  for  the  thirty- 
two  years  ensuing,  before  King  Philip’s  war,  they 
confined  their  hostilities  to  constant  attacks  upon 
the  Mohicans  and  to  acts  of  depredation  against  the 
whites  and  especially  the  clergy,  upon  whom  they 
wreaked  a terrible  vengeance  for  their  participation 
in  the  farcical  trial  and  subsequent  death  of  their 
beloved  Miantonomo. 

When  King  Philip,  roused  to  frenzy  by  the  injus- 
tice of  the  English,  rose  in  arms  in  1675,  all  the  Nar- 
ragansetts except  a few  tribes  under  the  old  Sachem 
Ninigret,  who  joined  with  the  English  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  countrymen,  sided  with  Philip  and  played 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


175 


the  part  of  men,  meeting  their  fate  like  the  brave 
warriors  they  were.  I say  except  Ninigret,  for  while 
he  is  spoken  of  as  a Narragansett  Sachem,  there  is 
little,  or  perhaps  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  he  was 
not  a true  Narragansett,  but  a Niantic  driven  with 
his  people  across  the  Paucatuc  by  the  Pequots,  and 
living  there  on  Narragansett  territory  under  the 
protection  of  the  Sachems  of  that  federation. 

I have  spoken  of  the  advancement  made  by  the 
Narragansetts  in  common  with  the  Wampanoags, 
and  it  is  of  interest  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
DeForest,  who  is  exceedingly  skeptical  concerning 
the  figures  given  by  early  historians  in  speaking  of 
the  numerical  strength  of  the  various  federations, 
says  that  their  territory  was  probably  more,  densely 
populated  than  any  other  part  of  the  United  States, 
and,  while  he  attributes  this  fact  to  the  excellent 
fishing  about  Narragansett  Bay,  which  enabled 
more  of  them  to  live  there  than  in  other  places,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  bay  had  no  mo- 
nopoly on  fishing,  Samoset  leading  the  Plymouth 
settlers  to  the  shores  of  Maine  for  fish,  and  Cape 
Cod  Bay  itself  being  a fishing  resort  of  the  English 
before  the  settlement  at  Plymouth.  The  true  reason 
for  the  density  of  the  population,  which  before  the 
plague  undoubtedly  extended  to  the  Pokanoket  and 
Pocasset  territory  of  the  Wampanoags,  probably 
lies  in  the  fact  that  these  federations  were  more 
advanced  in  agriculture  than  the  other  Algonquin 
tribes.  In  fact,  DeForest  says,  the  Narragansett 
men,  unlike  most  of  the  race,  did  not  shirk  manual 
labor.  He  also  speaks  of  them  as  of  a much  milder 


176 


MASSASOIT 


and  more  humane  disposition  than  the  Pequots  and 
Mohicans. 

Under  the  guiding  hand  of  the  few  English  who 
appear  to  have  been  interested  in  them  as  men,  and 
not  simply  as  cumberers  of  the  earth  which  the 
English  coveted,  they  made  rapid  progress  toward 
civilization.  It  was  the  Narragansetts  that  gave 
refuge  to  the  persecuted  Quakers  from  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  It  was  to  them  that  Roger  Williams 
fled  when  he  was  banished  from  Salem  in  1636, 
after  spending  a part  of  the  winter  at  Sowams;  and 
it  was  among  them  that  Williams  lived,  loved  and 
respected  by  them  for  more  than  forty  years.  It 
was  to  them  that  Gorton  fled  with  his  dissenting  or 
heterodox  associates  when  banished  from  Plymouth; 
and  Deane  thinks  the  council  of  clergymen  who 
decided  Miantonomo’s  fate  may  have  been  influ- 
enced by  the  fact  that  the  Narragansetts  gave  him 
refuge.  There  is  reason  for  his  conclusion  in  the 
fact,  already  referred  to,  that  these  men  who  had 
fled  from  the  old  world  to  the  wilderness  of  the  new 
to  be  free  from  the  restrictions  placed  upon  their 
religious  belief  and  religious  thought,  as  soon  as 
they  had  found  the  haven  they  sought,  became  as 
intolerant  of  dissenters  from  their  views  as  the 
clergy  of  the  established  church  had  ever  been  of 
them.  In  a word  they  were  especially  zealous  to 
deprive  others  of  the  same  liberty  they  came  here 
to  secure  for  themselves. 

The  part  played  by  the  Narragansetts  under  the 
leadership  of  Pumham,  Canonchet,  Quinapen  and 
the  "Old  Queen,”  in  King  Philip’s  war,  the  defec- 


THE  NARRAGANSETTS 


177 


tion  of  Ninigret,  and  his  aid  to  the  English  in  that 
war,  which  resulted  in  the  extermination  of  his 
people,  belongs  more  properly  in  another  place,  and 
I will  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  greatest  chief- 
tain produced  by  the  federation  during  the  short 
period  of  its  existence  of  which  anything  is  known. 


IX 


MIANTONOMO 

THIS  Great  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  a nephew  of  Canonicus,  whose 
activities  in  the  early  days  of  the  colonies  have  been 
briefly  adverted  to,  and  the  great  grandson  of  Tash- 
tussuch.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Canonicus 
had  two  sons  at  least,  who  are  mentioned  in  his- 
tory as  having  accompanied  Miantonomo  to  Bos- 
ton in  1636,  and  who  fought  with  him  at  Sachem’s 
Plain,  where  they  were  both  wounded,  Miantonomo, 
the  son  of  Canonicus’  youngest  brother  Mascus,  was 
his  war  captain  and  trusted  counsellor  before  he 
laid  down  the  tomahawk,  and  his  successor  in  the 
Great  Chieftaincy.  It  was  Miantonomo  whom  he 
sent  to  punish  the  murderers  of  Oldham  in  1636, 
and  it  was  Miantonomo  who  headed  the  party  that 
traveled  to  Boston  on  October  21  of  the  same  year 
to  apprise  the  English  of  the  threatening  attitude  of 
the  Pequots. 

While  we  are  not  familiar  with  the  laws  of  descent 
among  the  Algonquins,  gathering  our  information 
from  all  available  sources,  and  drawing  such  infer- 
ences as  seem  warranted  by  known  facts,  it  would 
seem  that  the  Narragansetts  had  a different  rule 
than  the  other  federations.  We  see  Passaconaway 
of  the  Pawtuckets  succeeded  by  his  son  Wonolan- 
178 


MIANTON  OMO 


179 


cet;  Sassacus  of  the  Pequots  following  his  father 
Wopigwooit,  and  Oweneco  of  the  Mohicans  taking 
up  the  reins  his  father  Uncas  laid  down.  We  find 
Massasoit  of  the  Wampanoags  succeeded  in  the 
Great  Chieftaincy  of  that  federation  by  his  eldest 
son  Wamsutta,  and  the  latter  followed  by  his 
younger  brother  Pometacom,  while  Canonicus  is 
succeeded  by  a son  of  his  youngest  brother,  passing 
over  his  own  sons  and  possibly  those  of  two  other 
brothers.  If  there  was  any  uniform  rule  it  must 
have  been  that  the  Great  Sachem  named  his  own 
successor  from  the  warriors  of  his  blood  and  family, 
or  that  the  royal  family  selected  their  Great  Sachem 
from  their  own  number.* 

If  either  method  was  pursued,  Miantonomo  must 
have  been  a man  of  parts,  either  to  have  been 
named  by  his  uncle  in  preference  to  his  own  sons, 
or  to  have  secured  the  election  from  among  the 
many  men  who  were  eligible  to  the  position.  We 
have  seen  much  of  his  friendliness  towards  the 
whites;  and  there  is  yet  much  to  be  said  concerning 
him  and  his  activities  during  the  short  space  of 
not  more  than  seven  years  of  his  great  chieftaincy. 

In  1636,  after  a truce  had  been  declared  between 
the  Pequots  and  the  Narragansetts,  Roger  Williams 
reported  to  Governor  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  that  Miantonomo  had  told  him  that  the  Pe- 
quots had  labored  with  the  Narragansetts  to  per- 
suade them  that  the  English  were  minded  to  destroy 
all  Indians.  This  may  have  been  only  a trick  of  the 
wily  Sassacus  to  arouse  the  other  federation  to  join 
* See  note  at  end  of  chapter. 


180 


MASSASOIT 


him  in  the  uprising  he  was  then  planning;  but  the 
events  of  the  next  forty  years  showed  that  Sassacus, 
if  he  was  sincere  in  his  belief,  had  read  the  English 
character  and  foresaw  the  result  of  their  continued 
occupancy  of  more  and  more  of  the  Indian  lands, 
better  than  any  of  the  other  Sachems  of  his  time. 
This  incident  is  related  here  simply  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  attention  to  the  sincerity  of  Miantonomo’s 
friendship  or  his  apparent  sagacity  in  forewarning 
the  whites  against  his  own  most  deadly  foes  in  the 
hope  of  compassing  their  destruction.  The  chances 
are  strongly  in  favor  of  the  first  of  these  alterna- 
tives, because  the  total  annihilation  of  the  Pequots 
would  only  result  in  bringing  some  other  tribe  of 
the  federation  to  the  front,  still  having  a powerful, 
though  somewhat  reduced,  nation  on  his  western 
border  which  was  likely  to  be  just  as  hostile. 

In  1638,  Arthur  Peach  and  three  accomplices 
killed  a Narragansett  Indian  who  had  been  to  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  to  trade,  and  they  were  taken  at 
Aquidnick  by  order  of  Roger  Williams.  Williams 
learned  from  friendly  Indians  of  the  same  tribe  that 
“the  natives,  friends  of  the  slain  man,  had  consulta- 
tion to  kill  an  Englishman  in  revenge.”  Mianto- 
nomo  also  heard  of  this,  whether  through  Williams 
or  from  his  own  people  does  not  appear,  and  he 
sent  word  to  the  English,  urging  them  to  be  careful 
when  on  the  highways,  and  at  the  same  time 
threatened  his  own  people  with  punishment  if  they 
took  the  matter  of  vengeance  into  their  own  hands, 
telling  them  the  governor  (of  Plymouth)  would 
see  justice  done,  as  indeed  he  did  in  this  case, 


MIANTON  OMO 


181 


hanging  Peach  and  two  of  his  accomplices,  the 
other  escaping  to  Piscataqua  where  the  settlers 
protected  him. 

In  1640  rumors  reached  Boston  that  Miantonomo 
was  breeding  dissension,  and  was  trying  to  incite 
the  tribes  to  a general  rebellion  against  the  whites. 
"Rebellion”  is  the  word  used  by  the  early  writers; 
but  my  understanding  of  the  term  is  that  it  means 
a revolt  against  lav/ful  authority,  and  by  what 
process  of  reasoning  the  colonial  governments  of 
that  day  concluded  that  they  had  any  lawful  au- 
thority over  the  Indians  is  beyond  my  comprehen- 
sion. Why  the  Massachusetts  authorities  failed  to 
take  account  of  the  past,  of  Miantonomo’s  sincerity, 
which  had  been  so  often  manifested,  and  of  Uncas’ 
well-known  duplicity,  in  the  controversy  between 
them,  which  was  almost  constantly  before  the  Eng- 
lish magistrates  from  that  time  until  Miantonomo’s 
death,  is  another  of  the  mysteries  for  which  history 
offers  no  solution;  and  their  constant  support  of 
Uncas,  and  abandonment  of  the  man  whose  char- 
acter was  so  much  above  that  of  Uncas  that  there 
is  no  comparison  between  them,  places  a blot  upon 
the  pages  of  the  history  of  that  period  that  time 
cannot  efface,  an  indelible  stain  upon  their  judicial 
ermine. 

WRen  these  rumors  reached  Boston  in  1640,  Mian- 
tonomo was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  English  or  colonial 
authorities  pursuing  their  usual  high-handed  meth- 
ods of  ordering  men  who  were  not  under  their 
jurisdiction  around  as  though  they  were  subject 


182 


MASSASOIT 


to  them.  Whatever  may  have  been  Miantono- 
mo’s  feelings  about  their  assumption  of  authority 
over  him,  he  suppressed  them,  and  went  to 
Boston,  undoubtedly  willing  to  go  the  whole  dis- 
tance, and  not  merely  half  way,  in  an  effort  to  pre- 
serve the  peace  and  show  his  readiness  to  observe 
the  terms  of  his  treaties  and  agreements  with  the 
whites.  When  he  presented  himself  before  the 
governor  he  demanded  an  investigation,  and  that 
his  accusers  be  called  to  confront  him,  and  if  found 
to  be  in  the  wrong  that  they  be  put  to  death.  He 
averred  that  Uncas  and  the  Mohicans  had  become 
his  enemies  and  were  circulating  this  slander  against 
him.  Nothing  was  shown  impheating  him  in  any 
wrongdoing,  but  the  circulation  of  the  rumors  re- 
sulted in  a most  bitter  enmity  between  him  and 
Uncas,  which  was  terminated  only  by  Miantonomo’s 
fall  at  the  hands  of  the  most  treacherous  Redskin 
that  the  New  England  tribes  produced  during  the 
period  covered  by  our  knowledge  of  them,  aided 
and  abetted  by  the  men  Miantonomo  had  befriended. 

This  enmity  probably  extended  to  the  Connecti- 
cut tribes  that  were  more  friendly  to  Miantonomo 
than  to  Uncas,  including  the  Niantics  and  such  of 
the  old  Pequot  tribe  as  had  been  absorbed  by  them; 
and  was  unquestionably  responsible  for  an  alleged 
attempt  upon  the  life  of  Uncas  who  claimed  to 
have  been  shot  at  and  wounded  in  the  arm  by  an 
arrow  from  the  bow  of  some  unknown  person,  if 
any  such  attempt  was  actually  made.  At  about 
this  time  a young  Pequot  was  found  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  more  wampum  than  it  was  thought  he  ought 


MIANTONOMO 


183 


to  have,  and  he  fled  to  the  Narragansetts  who  pro- 
tected him.  Uncas  rushed  to  the  colonial  authori- 
ties again,  as  usual,  with  this  fresh  complaint,  and 
Miantonomo  was  once  more  called  to  Boston.  On 
a hearing  upon  Uncas’  complaint,  Miantonomo 
called  the  Pequot  as  a witness,  and  he  told  in  detail 
of  a plot  on  the  part  of  Uncas  to  involve  Mianto- 
nomo. He  said  that  Uncas  had  tried  to  induce  him 
to  tell  the  English  that  Miantonomo  had  employed 
him  to  kill  Uncas;  and  that  the  latter,  to  give  color 
to  the  charge,  took  a flint  from  his  gun  and  cut  his 
arm  on  both  sides  to  make  it  appear  as  if  an  arrow 
had  gone  through  it.  The  English,  as  usual,  re- 
fused to  believe  this,  and  ordered  Miantonomo  to 
give  the  Pequot  up  to  Uncas,  another  case  of  their 
assumption  of  authority  they  did  not  possess;  “in- 
tending to  subject  him  to  their  vengeance.”  Mian- 
tonomo, still  desirous  of  avoiding  trouble,  acquiesced, 
but  claimed  the  right  of  returning  the  Pequot  to  his 
own  hunting  grounds  as  he  had  introduced  him. 
This  was  allowed,  and  some  of  Miantonomo’s  men 
started  out  with  him  to  return  him,  but  themselves 
killed  him  while  on  the  way,  an  act  of  mercy  on  their 
part  whieh  ought  to  commend  itself  to  any  one  with 
a spark  of  humanity,  for  the  Narragansetts  knew 
what  Mohican  vengeance  meant. 

I use  the  expression  “as  usual”  in  speaking  of 
the  Massachusetts  authorities’  refusal  to  credit  the 
testimony  of  the  witness  introduced  on  behalf  of 
Miantonomo  because  this  seems  to  have  been  their 
constant  policy.  Miantonomo  had  repeatedly  shown 
his  friendship  and  good  will  towards  them,  they 


184 


MASSASOIT 


never  had  a particle  of  evidence  of  any  breach  of 
faith  on  his  part,  except  such  as  was  furnished  by 
his  most  inveterate  foe,  the  most  resourceful  liar  of 
the  times,  but  they  persistently  refused  to  listen  to 
evidence  in  his  behalf,  prefering  to  accept  the 
stories  circulated  by  his  enemy  whom  they  knew  to 
be  constantly  plotting  his  overthrow,  and  whom 
they  knew  equally  well  to  be  untrustworthy.  The 
only  plausible  explanation  I can  find  for  their  atti- 
tude towards  these  two  chiefs,  who  were  no  more  to 
be  compared  than  are  noonday  and  midnight,  is 
that  Uncas  was  a ready  tool  in  their  hands  for  the 
carrying  out  of  their  schemes  against  the  other 
Indians,  in  the  police  parlance  of  the  day  a stool 
pigeon;  or  that  the  Narragansetts  were  more  to 
be  feared  than  the  Mohicans  in  case  of  an  open 
rupture. 

And  Uncas’  reason  for  playing  this  part  was  to 
secure  the  overthrow  of  the  other  Great  Sachems 
of  the  vicinity,  to  reduce  their  federations  to  a state 
of  vassalage,  with  himself  the  great  Indian  King  of 
the  day,  supported  by  English  soldiers.  He  had 
neither  the  prowess  in  battle,  the  mental  qualities 
or  the  personality  to  accomplish  this  without  such 
assistance;  and  there  was  no  reason  for  all  the 
alleged  attempts  upon  his  life.  The  hostility  was 
not  entirely  personal,  although  Miantonomo  had 
good  reason  for  a strong  personal  enmity  to  him; 
but  there  was  more  than  individual  hostility  in- 
volved. It  was  the  hostility  of  one  nation  against 
another,  and  if  any  of  the  numerous  alleged  at- 
tempts upon  the  life  of  Uncas  had  been  successful, 


MI  ANTON  OMO 


185 


it  would  only  have  resulted  in  putting  in  his  place 
another  man  who  probably  would  have  pursued  his 
policy.  Again,'  there  were  so  many  complaints  by 
Uncas  of  these  plots  against  his  person,  rather  than 
against  his  federation,  that  it  seems  remarkable 
that  the  English  did  not  become  suspicious  concern- 
ing them;  but  if  they  had  any  such  suspicion  they 
carefully  concealed  it,  and  always  found  the  issue, 
when  one  was  presented,  in  favor  of  Uncas.  If  all 
the  attempts  to  remove  him,  complained  of,  and 
enumerated  by  Bradford,  were  actually  made,  there 
must  have  been  some  exceedingly  poor  shots  and 
weak  hands  among  the  conspirators  against  him; 
or  he  must  have  been  even  more  skilled  in  magic, 
or  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Great  Spirit 
than  was  the  celebrated  Passaconaway. 

After  the  capture  of  Miantonomo,  as  already  re- 
lated, Uncas  endeavored  to  extort  from  him  a plea 
for  his  life,  saying  that  if  he  were  Miantonomo’s 
prisoner  he  would  beg  for  mercy  at  his  hands,  all 
of  which  was  undoubtedly  true.  Failing  by  this 
means  to  force  a word  from  the  lips  of  the  Great 
Chief,  who  throughout  displayed  the  stoicism  of  his 
race,  Uncas  then  caused  some  of  the  Narragansett 
warriors,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners,  to  be 
brought  up  and  tomahawked  before  his  eyes.  Even 
this,  evidently  intended  as  an  object  lesson  of  what 
was  in  store  for  him,  failed  to  move  him  to  the 
utterance  of  a word.  Uncas  then,  well  knowing 
that  a trial  before  English  judges  was  equivalent  to 
conviction  and  execution  for  Miantonomo,  and  to 
shirk  the  responsibility  for  his  death,  referred  the 


186 


MASSASOIT 


case  to  the  English  who  had  just  effected  a union 
under  the  name  of  the  “United  Colonies  of  New 
England,”  and  had  provided  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  two  commissioners  each  from  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven,  to  consider  matters  of  common  interest. 
The  first  Commissioners  named  for  the  several  colo- 
nies were  as  follows:  Massachusetts  Bay,  John 
Winthrop  and  Thomas  Dudley;  Plymouth,  Edward 
Winslow  and  William  Collier;  Connecticut,  George 
Fenwick  and  Edward  Hopkins;  New  Haven,  The- 
ophilus  Eaton  and  Thomas  Gregson. 

Bradford  relates  that  at  their  first  meeting  held 
September  7,  1643,  at  Boston,  “amongst  other 
things  they  had  this  matter  of  great  consequence  to 
consider  on;  the  Narigansets,  after  the  subduing  of 
the  Pequentes  thought  to  have  ruled  over  all  the 
Indians  about  them;  but  the  English  especially 
those  of  Conightecutt,  holding  correspondence  and 
friendship  with  Uncass,  Sachem  of  the  Monhigg  In- 
deans which  lived  nere  them  (as  the  Massachusetts 
had  done  with  the  Narigansets)  and  he  had  been 
faithful  to  them  in  the  Pequente  Warr,  they  were 
ingaged  to  support  him  in  his  just  liberties,  and 
were  contented  that  such  of  the  surviving  Pequentes 
as  had  submitted  to  him  should  remain  with  him 
and  under  his  protection.  This  increased  his  power 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  unendurable  to  the 
Narigansets  and  Miantonomo,  their  Chief  Sachem 
(an  ambitious  and  politick  man)  and  he  sought 
privately  and  by  treachery  (according  to  the  Indian 
manner)  to  make  way  with  him  by  hiring  some  to 


MIANTON  OMO 


187 


kill  him.  Some  sought  to  poyson  him,  to  knock 
him  in  the  head  in  his  own  house  and  to  shoot  him 
and  such  like  attempts.  None  of  these  taking 
effect,  he  made  open  warr  (contrary  to  the  covenants 
between  the  English  and  the  Narigansetts  and  the 
Mohicans  and  Narigansets).” 

Bradford,  and  other  writers  following  his  con- 
clusions, seems  not  to  take  account  of  the  fact  that 
the  Mohicans,  even  if  augmented  by  all  the  surviv- 
ing Pequots,  would  have  been  no  match  for  the 
Narragansetts.  It  requires  but  the  application  of  a 
little  common  sense  to  known  facts  to  refute  all  this 
nonsense  about  Miantonomo’s  jealousy  on  this 
score,  and  about  the  increase  of  Uncas’  power  by 
this  means  to  such  an  extent  “as  to  be  unendurable” 
to  the  Narragansetts.  The  two  hundred  survivors 
of  the  Pequot  warriors  had  been  distributed,  one 
hundred  to  the  Mohicans,  eighty  to  the  Narragan- 
setts, and  twenty  to  the  Niantics;  and  the  Niantics 
were  more  friendly  towards  Miantonomo  than  to 
Uncas  at  that  time.  Then  why  all  the  talk  about 
Miantonomo’s  jealousy  and  the  increase  of  Uncas’ 
power?  He  also  apparently  forgets,  or  did  not 
know,  that  in  “making  open  warr,”  Miantonomo 
took  the  counsel  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  authori- 
ties, and  so  it  was  not  “contrary  to  the  covenants 
between  the  English  and  the  Narragansets.” 

Bradford  simply  follows  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioners, and  later  writers  follow  Bradford;  and 
it  is  not  difficult  to  guess  that  the  Commissioners 
were  hard  put  to  it  for  an  excuse  for  deciding  in 
Uncas’  favor;  and  found  it  in  this  alleged  jealousy 


188 


MASSASOIT 


of  the  increase  of  Uncas’  power;  that  is,  jealousy  of 
something  that  did  not  exist  unless  Uncas  was  har- 
boring other  Pequots  than  those  assigned  to  him. 
The  Commissioners’  report  was  so  worded  as  to 
justify  the  dastardly  act  recommended  by  their  five 
scape-goats  and  perpetrated  by  themselves.  Upon 
what  evidence  they  found  the  facts  they  do  not  say, 
nor  is  it  necessary.  A careful  reading  of  history 
will  convince  any  fair-minded  man  that  Uncas  had 
devoted  six  years  to  scheming  and  planning  the 
overthrow  of  the  enemy  he  dared  not  face  in  fair 
fight,  preferring  to  rely  upon  the  favor  of  the 
English;  and  that  every  complaint  he  ever  made 
against  Miantonomo  was  deliberately  framed  for 
that  purpose. 

It  was  on  the  evidence  of  Uncas’  witnesses  that 
the  alleged  facts  were  established.  The  Commis- 
sioners, unwilling  to  assume  the  responsibility  for 
deciding  a matter  upon  which  they  had  probably 
already  agreed,  called  in  fifty  clergymen,  who  were 
holding  a conference  at  the  time,  and  who  chose 
five  of  their  number  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  Sachem.  Thus  the  question  of  life  or  death 
was  left  to  five  men  who  were  willing  to  be  made 
the  scape-goats,  and  who  belonged  to  the  profession 
that  subsequently  showed  itself  to  be  made  up  of 
the  most  blood-thirsty  of  all  the  English,  and  even 
more  so  than  any  of  those  whom  they  delighted  in 
calling  savages. 

Who  the  five  men  were  history  does  not  relate, 
probably  because  they  feared  the  vengeance  of  the 
outraged  Narragansetts;  but  they  decided  in  favor 


MIANTONOMO 


189 


of  Uncas,  and  the  Commissioners  then  passed  sen- 
tence; that  is,  they  authorized  Uncas  to  put  Mi- 
antonomo  to  death,  advising  moderation  in  the 
manner  of  his  execution;  and  promised  to  assist 
Uncas  if  the  Narragansetts  or  others  should  unjustly 
assault  them  for  the  execution.  As  if  any  assault 
upon  them  or  upon  their  accomplices,  the  whites, 
for  the  execution,  could  be  unjust.  One  is  naturally 
led  to  ask  why  the  English  meddled  in  the  affair  at 
all.  The  only  plausible  answer  is  that  they  sought 
to  terrify  the  natives  for  their  own  advantage. 

Bradford  informs  us  that  “Uncass  followed  this 
advice,  and  accordingly  executed  him  in  a very  faire 
manner,  according  as  they  advised,  with  due  respect 
to  his  honor  and  greatness.”  And  he  might  have 
added  that  Uncas  paid  a high  tribute  to  his  mur- 
dered foe  in  cutting  a slice  of  flesh  from  his  still 
quivering  body  and  eating  it,  declaring,  “it  is  the 
sweetest  meat  I ever  ate.  It  makes  my  heart 
strong.” 

One  piece  of  the  evidence  upon  which  the  issue 
was  decided  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  a 
word  of  comment.  When  the  people  of  Rhode 
Island,  who  lived  near  Miantonomo,  and  whom  he 
had  often  befriended,  took  sides  with  him,  believing 
him  to  be  mainly  in  the  right,  Uncas’  followers  told 
the  authorities  at  Hartford  that  Miantonomo  had 
engaged  the  Mohawks  to  join  him  and  that  they 
were  then  encamped  within  a day’s  journey  of  the 
frontier,  and  were  awaiting  Miantonomo’s  libera- 
tion. The  authorities  apparently  swallowed  this 
statement,  without  making  any  attempt  to  verify 


190 


MASSASOIT 


it,  and  used  it  as  the  deciding  piece  of  so-called  evi- 
dence; thus  establishing  the  truth  of  the  last  part 
of  the  complaint  made  by  King  Philip  to  Governor 
Easton  thirty-two  years  later,  that  if  “twenty  of 
their  honest  Indians  testified  that  an  Englishman 
had  done  them  wrong  it  was  as  nothing,  but  if  one 
of  their  worst  Indians  testified  against  any  Indian 
or  their  King,  when  it  pleased  the  English  it  was 
sufficient.” 

The  decision  of  the  Commissioners  was  kept  secret 
until  they  were  out  of  the  reach  of  the  tribes,  other- 
wise the  commission  would  probably  have  had  an 
unhappy  ending.  As  soon  as  they  had  had  time 
to  reach  places  of  safety  the  authorities  of  Hartford 
took  Miantonomo  from  the  jail  there,  where  he  had 
been  confined,  and  delivered  him  to  Uncas  and  his 
brother  Wawequa,  and  they  started  back  with  him 
to  their  own  hunting  grounds,  one  of  the  stipulations 
being  that  he  was  not  to  be  executed  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  colonists. 

When  they  arrived  at  Sachem’s  Plain,  where  the 
Mohicans  had  met  the  Narragansetts  and  defeated 
them  by  the  trick  referred  to  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, Wawequa  stepped  behind  Miantonomo  and  at 
a signal  from  Uncas  struck  him  down  with  a toma- 
hawk. Then  followed  the  incident  of  the  eating  of 
a slice  of  his  flesh.  They  buried  him  there;  a 
friend  piled  a heap  of  stones  on  the  grave  and  it  is 
said  that  for  a hundred  years  every  Narragansett 
who  passed  that  way  turned  in  sadness  and  added  a 
stone  to  the  heap  upon  his  grave,  until  a large  mound 
marked  the  place. 


MIANTONOMO 


191 


Compare  this  case  with  that  presented  a little 
later  by  the  Narragansetts,  who  complained  that 
Uncas  had  received  a ransom  for  Miantonomo’s  life 
and  then  executed  him,  and  asked,  not  to  have 
Uncas  brought  in  and  executed  if  found  guilty,  but 
simply  that  the  English  would  allow  them  to  avenge 
their  own  wrongs.  This  request  was  refused,  the 
Narragansetts  being  put  off  with  a promise  that 
if  it  was  shown  that  Uncas  had  received  a ransom 
they  would  cause  him  to  return  it;  and  then  con- 
veniently deciding  the  issue  in  his  favor.  Thirty 
pieces  of  silver  against  a life ! A few  spans  of  wam- 
pum against  the  man  whose  lands  they  coveted! 

Winthrop’s  narrative  of  the  farce  that  they  called 
a trial  conveys  such  a different  impression  of  the 
merits  of  the  controversy  between  Uncas  and  Mian- 
tonomo  than  does  that  of  the  Commissioners,  that  it 
gives  rise  to  the  suggestion  already  made  that  the 
latter  reported  the  matter  in  such  a way  as  to  vindi- 
cate their  participation  in  what  all  reliable  authori- 
ties agree  in  pronouncing  a cold-blooded  murder. 

And  so  perished  Miantonomo,  the  best  friend  the 
whites  had  among  the  Indians  after  Massasoit;  that 
is,  if  they  valued  the  friendship  of  a man  rather 
than  that  of  a Mohican.  Historians,  except  Brad- 
ford, agree  that  he  was  guiltless  of  any  offence;  he 
had  many  times  shown  the  greatness  of  his  character 
in  his  dealings  with  the  whites;  and  when  it  came 
to  a question  of  simple  justice  at  their  hands,  it  was 
refused,  and  he  was  given  up  to  his  most  cruel  enemy 
for  assassination  by  a man  who  could  not  look  him 
in  the  face  when  he  struck  the  deadly  blow. 


192 


MASSASOIT 


After  the  condemnation  of  Miantonomo  by  a body 
of  clergymen,  is  it  any  wonder  that  for  the  next  hun- 
dred years  more  clergymen  fell  by  the  tomahawk  in 
New  England,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  than 
those  of  any  other  class?  Is  it  any  wonder  that, 
instead  of  the  peace  the  colonists  pretended  to  expect 
to  follow  this  unjustifiable  act,  they  found  them- 
selves confronted  by  thirty  years  of  reprisal  and 
vengeance,  terminating  only  in  the  extinction  of  the 
Narragansetts  in  King  Philip’s  war? 

If  we  are  inclined  to  think  the  penalty  exacted  by 
the  Indians  severe,  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  the  offence  was  serious,  and  that  the  simple 
natives,  unable  to  secure  the  colonists’  consent  to 
their  exacting  justice,  took  the  matter  into  their 
own  hands,  and  avenged  their  leader’s  death  upon 
the  heads  of  the  accomplices  to  his  murder. 

Does  any  one  wonder  after  reading  the  story  of 
the  Mohicans  and  Narragansetts,  culminating  in 
the  death  of  the  Narragansett  Sachem,  that  the 
chiefs  “had  a great  fear  that  any  of  their  Indians 
should  be  called  or  forced  to  be  Christians,”  as 
stated  by  Governor  Easton? 

I fancy  there  was  a shade  of  irony  in  the  wily 
old  Ninigret’s  reply  to  Mayhew  when  he  asked 
permission  to  preach  among  the  old  Sachem’s 
people.  “Make  the  English  good  first;  try  it 
on  the  Pequots  and  Mohicans  and  if  it  works,  I 
will  consider  it.” 

Do  we  wonder  that  the  Christian  religion  failed 
to  impress  Massasoit,  who  saw  the  practices  of  the 
Christian  English,  and  who  manifested  more  of  the 


MIANTONOMO 


193 


spirit  of  true  Christianity  than  all  the  clergy  of 
New  England  of  his  time,  excepting  John  Elliot  and 
Roger  Williams? 

Speaking  of  Miantonomo  and  his  son  Canonchet, 
Schoolcraft,  who  is  not  noted  for  many  expressions 
of  sympathy  with  the  Indians  or  their  cause,  says : 
“His  unjustifiable  death  on  Sachem’s  Plain  is  not 
so  remarkable  as  an  act  of  savage  cruelty  as  it  is 
of  English  casuistry.  An  Indian  was  made  to 
strike  the  'executionary  blow  which  Indian  clemency 
or  diplomacy  had  withheld.  Canonchet  also  fell  by 
the  same  questionable  system.” 

Note.  — Since  writing  this  chapter  I have  received  a sug- 
estion  that  the  sons  of  a great  chief  might  lose  their  rights 
of  succession  by  marrying  beneath  their  station,  a thought 
that  had  entirely  escaped  the  writer’s  attention,  but  which 
seems  entirely  plausible. 


X 


THE  PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER 
WESTERN  TRIBES 

THE  attention  of  the  reader  has  already  been 
called  to  the  fact  that  Schoolcraft  speaks  of 
the  “Wolf  totem  or  Mohicans”  as  the  first  of  the 
three  clans  of  the  Leni  Lenapee  or  parent  stock  of 
the  Algonquins  to  migrate  from  their  ancestral 
hunting  grounds,  and  that  Gallatin  thinks  it  was 
the  only  one  to  penetrate  into  strange  lands. 
Whether  either  of  these  conjectures  is  right  or 
wrong  we  do  not  certainly  know,  but  Schoolcraft 
speaks  with  such  positiveness  of  the  identity  of  the 
“Wolfs”  with  the  “Mahangins,”  as  they  seem  to 
have  been  originally  called,  that  it  is  probably  safe 
to  conclude  that  the  Mohicans  were  of  that  totem 
and  adopted  as  their  national  cognomen  the  name 
of  the  entire  clan.  If  Gallatin  is  correct,  we  are,  of 
course,  led  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  all  the 
tribes  occupying  the  vast  expanse  of  territory  out- 
lined in  a preceding  chapter,  except  those  who  contin- 
ued to  live  around  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland 
and  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  were  originally  Mahangins, 
who  swept  out  to  the  north,  the  south,  the  east  and 
the  west  in  successive  tides,  and  as  they  became 
separated  from  each  other  formed  separate  federa- 
194 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  195 

tions,  all  closely  related,  but  having  a sufficiently 
distinct  existence,  so  that  in  the  development  of 
their  customs  and  their  language  they  eventually 
differed  so  materially  that  it  has  required  extensive 
research  by  linguists  into  the  common  roots  of  their 
various  dialects,  of  which  there  are  said  to  have 
been  more  than  forty,  to  classify  them  properly. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  early  scope  of  the 
name  “Mahangin,”  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  Mohican  was  the  name  applied  to 
a tribe  of  the  Pequot  nation  as  it  was  then  called. 
If  Schoolcraft’s  belief  that  the  Pequots  were  true 
Mohicans  is  well  founded,  it  would  be  more  appro- 
priate to  speak  of  them  as  the  Mohican  Nation  or 
federation,  in  which  the  Pequots,  one  of  the  tribes 
of  the  nation,  had  gained  the  ascendency.  Other 
writers,  however,  assert  that  the  Pequots  were  an 
inland  tribe  that  had  swept  down  and  overwhelmed 
the  Mohicans,  whom  they  ruled  as  a conquered 
people.  If  this  is  true,  they  simply  constituted  an- 
other of  those  waves  of  migration  to  which  I have 
referred,  that  rolled  across  the  Nipmuck  territory  to 
the  north  and  could  not  be  stayed  until  they  reached 
the  shores  of  Long  Island  Sound,  compelling  the 
Mohicans  who  had  occupied  this  territory  to  con- 
fine themselves  to  the  northerly  portion  of  their 
former  hunting  grounds,  while  they  themselves 
settled  down  on  the  more  desirable  portions  bor- 
dering on  the  water.  These  two  theories  are  not 
irreconcilable,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  Gallatin  says 
they  were  all  “Mahangins.” 

Whatever  may  have  been  their  origin  or  their 


196 


MASSASOIT 


relationship,  we  find  some  writers  who  cover  the 
earliest  periods  of  American  history  speaking  of  the 
Pequot  Nation  as  having  their  principal  rallying 
place  near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  River,  which 
was  in  the  territory  then  occupied  by  the  true 
Pequots,  “where  Connecticote,  Quinnipoig  and 
Sassacus”  were  called  “the  three  Kings,  of  whom 
Sassacus  was  the  most  noted  warrior,  though  Con- 
necticote was  the  Chief  of  Chiefs.”  This  is  hardly 
reconcilable  with  other  equally  positive  statements 
by  other  historians  who  tell  us  that  Wopigwooit, 
sometimes  called  Pekoath,  was  the  great  chief  of  the 
federation  until  his  death  at  the  hands  of  Dutch 
traders  about  1633.  He  was  undoubtedly  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  Sassacus. 

The  question  that  naturally  arises,  then,  is,  who 
were  the  other  of  the  three  kings?  And  if  Wopig- 
wooit was  the  great  chief  as  was  his  father  before 
him,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  in  the  Great 
Chieftaincy,  how  does  it  come  about  that  Connec- 
ticote was  Chief  of  Chiefs?  From  what  we  know 
of  the  activities  of  the  tribe  from  1635  until  its  prac- 
tical extermination  in  1637,  it  seems  safe  to  con- 
clude that  the  other  two  kings  mentioned  were  only 
the  sachems  of  some  subdivisions  of  the  federation, 
perhaps  of  the  royal  line  of  Wopigwooit,  and  high 
counsellors  of  the  War  Lord  Sassacus;  although 
Quinnipoig  is  the  name  given  by  some  writers  to 
one  of  the  Connecticut  River  tribes. 

While  Gookin  and,  following  him,  Drake,  Galla- 
tin and  Schoolcraft  give  the  name  Pequot  to  the 
first  of  the  five  great  nations  of  New  England  In- 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  197 

dians,  it  is  significant  that  the  true  Pequot  territory- 
extended  only  from  the  Paucatuc  River  on  the 
east  to  the  Niantic  on  the  west,  and  from  Long 
Island  Sound  northerly  less  than  half  way  across 
the  state  of  Connecticut.  That  their  territory  did 
not  extend  westerly  to  the  Connecticut  River  is 
clearly  established,  for  while  they  undoubtedly  held 
sway  over  the  western  Niantics,  occupying  the  pen- 
insula formed  by  the  Niantic  and  Connecticut 
Rivers,  north  of  these  lay  the  Podunks,  whose  Sa- 
chem Waghinacut  went  to  Boston  in  1631  to  try  to 
induce  the  English  to  settle  in  the  Connecticut 
Valley.  He  boasted  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and 
offered  to  provide  settlers  with  corn  and  to  give 
them  eighty  beaver  skins  if  they  would  send  a colony 
into  his  territory.  Winthrop  says  he  afterwards 
found  that  he  was  a very  treacherous  man  and  had 
been  at  war  with  a far  greater  Sachem  named  Pe- 
koath.  DeForest,  however,  says  the  Pequots  de- 
feated them  in  their  battles  and  compelled  them  to 
submit  to  Pekoath. 

The  Podunks,  as  I have  said,  lay  north  of  the 
western  Niantics  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecti- 
cut River.  To  be  more  accurate  I should  have  said 
they  were  north  of  the  Wauguncks  who  occupied 
the  territory  immediately  north  of  the  western 
Niantics  and  also  on  the  west  side  of  the  river. 

I am  aware  that  in  placing  the  limit  I do  on  the 
Pequot  territory,  I am  running  against  the  claims 
of  some  old  writers  who  assert  that  Sassacus’  sway 
extended  nearly  to  the  Hudson  River,  as  well  as 
the  statement  of  others  that  he  had  twenty-six  sub- 


198 


MASSASOIT 


sachems  or  sagamores  under  him,  because  there 
were  not  twenty-six  tribes  in  all  Connecticut  if  the 
authorities  that  seem  most  reliable  are  to  be  be- 
lieved; and  Gallatin,  who  appears  to  have  made 
extensive  research  to  gather  the  material  for  his 
Archaeologia  Americana,  says  there  were  seven  in- 
dependent tribes  west  of  the  Connecticut  River. 
DeForest,  who  published  a history  of  the  Con- 
necticut Indians  in  1852  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Connecticut  Historical  Society,  shows  a map  of  Con- 
necticut as  it  was  in  1630,  on  which  he  locates  ten 
such  tribes,  naming  them.  If  it  should  be  claimed 
that  these  were  really  of  the  Pequot  nation,  we  come 
right  back  to  the  fact  that  one  of  them  had  recently 
been  at  war  with  Pekoath  (Wopigwooit)  of  the 
Pequots;  and  we  are  confronted  with  the  further 
fact  that  the  Tunxis,  another  of  these  tribes,  if  it 
was  subject  to  Sassacus,  did  not  constitute  any  part 
of  the  Mohican  nation  which  Uncas  built  up  on  the 
ruins  of  the  Pequot;  for  as  we  have  already  seen, 
Sequassen,  their  sachem,  was  more  friendly  to  Mian- 
tonomo  than  to  Uncas,  and  is  said  by  DeForest  to 
have  been  related  to  the  Narragansett  sachems. 

This  same  Sequassen  owned  the  land  where 
Hartford  now  stands  and  sold  it  to  the  English. 
DeForest  says  these  western  Connecticut  tribes 
were  all  numerically  weak,  but  for  that  matter  he 
places  the  strength  of  all  the  New  England  tribes  at 
a much  lower  figure  than  other  writers,  estimating 
the  Pequots  at  three  hundred  warriors,  the  number 
seen  by  Endicott  when  he  was  on  the  coast  in  1636, 
rather  than  seven  hundred  as  given  by  Captain 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  'OTHER  TRIBES  199 

Mason  who  overthrew  them  in  1637,  and  whose 
figures  are  generally  accepted;  and  the  Narragan- 
setts  he  gives  but  ten  to  twelve  hundred  warriors 
against  the  three  to  four  thousand  as  credited  to 
them  by  other  writers,  except  Gookin  who  places 
them  at  one  thousand. 

DeForest  further  contradicts  the  claims  of  Pequot 
control  nearly  to  the  Hudson,  saying  that  a large 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  west  of  the 
Connecticut  River  became  subject  to  the  Mohawks, 
and  that  every  year  two  old  Mohawks  might  be  seen 
going  from  village  to  village  collecting  tribute  and 
issuing  orders  from  the  Great  Council  of  the  Five 
Nations  at  Onondaga. 

For  that  matter  they  all  seem  to  have  been  re- 
lated, for  according  to  Uncas’  genealogy  as  given 
to  the  whites  in  1679,  Sassacus’  grandmother  was  a 
daughter  of  the  Chief  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts, 
Uncas’  mother  was  a sister  of  Sassacus’  grandfather 
and  Uncas  himself  married  a daughter  of  Sassacus. 
So  we  see  that  Uncas  the  Mohican  was  of  the  royal 
house  of  the  Pequots  and  married  into  the  family, 
being  a distant  cousin  and  son-in-law  of  Sassacus, 
whose  position  he  sought  continuously  to  usurp; 
and  finally,  being  so  thoroughly  despised  by  all  the 
tribes  of  the  federation  except  his  own  that  he 
could  accomplish  nothing  unaided,  joined  the  Eng- 
lish against  his  own  people  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
securing  the  overthrow  of  Sassacus  and  the  Pequot 
tribe  in  order  to  place  his  own  tribe  with  himself  at 
its  head  in  the  dominant  position  in  the  league. 
That  he  would  have  betrayed  the  English  with  the 


200 


MASSASOIT 


same  facility  had  the  opportunity  presented  itself 
without  danger  to  his  precious  scalp  goes  without 
saying. 

The  Chief  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  whose 
daughter  Woipeguand  the  grandfather  of  Sassacus 
is  said  by  Uncas  to  have  married,  was  named 
Wekoum.  This  must  have  been  the  father  or 
grandfather  of  Tashtussuch,  unless  the  chieftaincy 
descended  collaterally,  and  in  that  case  either  the 
uncle  or  great  uncle.  So  we  see  that  Wopigwooit, 
Sassacus  and  Uncas  were  cousins,  a few  degrees  re- 
moved, of  Canonicus  and  Miantonomo  who  were 
their  most  deadly  foes. 

Intermarriages  between  members  of  the  ruling 
houses  of  the  neighboring  nations  in  intervals  of 
peace  would  seem  from  this  to  have  prevailed 
among  the  Indians  just  as  it  has  among  civilized 
peoples,  but  with  no  better  results  so  far  as  it 
affected  the  peace  of  the  nations. 

English  colonies  having  been  established  on  the 
Connecticut  River,  in  1633  Sassacus  began  the 
series  of  depredations  that  terminated  in  the  Pe- 
quot  war.  The  first  overt  act  was  the  murder  of 
Captain  Stone  and  his  crew.  Stone  was  a trader 
from  Virginia,  said  to  have  been  unscrupulous  in 
his  dealings  and  addicted  to  drunkenness,  but  this 
does  not  appear  to  have  contributed  to  his  misfor- 
tune, as  the  Indians  did  not  complain  of  any  mis- 
treatment on  his  part  when  they  made  their  defence 
for  his  murder,  which  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
presented  until  1636. 

Between  these  dates  the  authorities  had  made  a 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  201 

treaty  with  Sassacus,  and  had  succeeded  in  patching 
up  some  sort  of  a peace  between  him  and  the  Nar- 
ragansett  Sachems.  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty, 
the  Pequots  were  to  pay  to  the  whites  four  hundred 
fathoms  of  wampum  for  the  Narragansetts  for  some 
damage  occasioned  by  their  depredations.  In  this 
connection  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that  we  find 
mention  of  payments  of  wampum  much  more  fre- 
quent in  the  dealings  of  the  Pequots  and  Narra- 
gansetts than  of  any  other  tribes,  and  this  bears  out 
the  statement  of  Bradford  that  the  Indians  about 
Plymouth  and  the  Massachusetts  had  none  or  very 
little  wampum,  “only  it  was  made  and  kepte  amonge 
the  Narigansets  and  Pequentes,  which  grew  rich 
and  potent  by  it.” 

The  treaty  to  which  I have  referred,  and  which 
was  expressly  sought  by  Sassacus,  who  sent  messen- 
gers to  Boston  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  Eng- 
fish,  was  made  in  1634,  but,  in  1636,  war  broke  out 
between  the  Pequots  and  the  Narragansetts,  and  in 
the  same  year,  the  authorities  charged  Sassacus 
with  having  harbored  some  of  the  murderers  of 
John  Oldham,  and  with  having  failed  to  pay  the 
wampum  which  he  had  agreed  to  pay  by  the  terms 
of  his  treaty,  and  another  six  hundred  fathoms  was 
added  to  this  by  the  authorities,  probably  as  a 
penalty  for  harboring  Oldham’s  murderers,  although 
they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  given  any  hearing 
on  this  charge;  but  this  seems  to  have  been  the 
only  fresh  outrage  against  the  whites  or  charged  to 
the  Pequots  which  would  warrant  the  demand. 

A fleet  of  small  vessels  was  fitted  out  at  Boston 


202 


MASSASOIT 


to  sail  to  the  Pequot  country  to  secure  satisfaction 
or  punish  the  offenders.  John  Endicott  was  placed 
in  command,  with  Captain  Underhill  commanding 
the  military  force  of  ninety  men.  Endicott’s  in- 
structions were  to  go  first  to  Block  Island  and  take 
possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  the  colony,  to  spare 
the  women  and  children,  but  to  put  all  the  men  to 
the  sword  in  punishment  for  the  murder  of  Oldham, 
although  more  than  a dozen  of  them  had  already 
been  slain  by  Gallop  and  his  crew  at  the  time  of 
the  discovery  of  the  offence,  and  Canonicus  had 
sent  Miantonomo  with  two  hundred  men  to  punish 
them  further. 

From  Block  Island,  Endicott  was  to  proceed  to 
the  Pequot  country,  obtain  the  murderers  of  Stone 
and  one  thousand  fathoms  of  wampum.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  in  this  connection  that  Stone  was 
murdered  before  the  treaty  between  the  Pequots 
and  the  English,  so  it  seems  like  a stale  demand  to 
us  at  this  remote  time.  He  was  also  to  demand 
some  of  their  children  as  hostages  and  to  take 
them  by  force  if  the  demand  was  refused.  At 
Block  Island,  Underhill  reported  the  killing  of  four- 
teen natives  and  the  wounding  of  others,  but  the 
Narragansetts  claimed  that  they  killed  only  one. 

Arriving  at  Saybrook,  Lieutenant  Gardiner,  the 
commander  of  the  garrison,  protested  against  the 
enterprise,  saying,  “You  have  come  to  raise  a nest 
of  wasps  about  our  ears  and  then  you  will  flee 
away.”  Events  that  followed  showed  Gardiner  to 
be  in  the  right.  As  the  expedition  sailed  up  the 
river  the  natives  became  much  alarmed  and  called 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  203 

out  to  them  from  the  shore  inquiring  if  the  English 
had  come  to  kill  them,  to  which  Endicott  replied 
that  the  Pequots  or  their  aides  had  destroyed  an 
English  vessel  and  killed  ten  Englishmen  on  the 
river;  that  their  sachem  had  agreed  to  surrender 
the  murderers  (this  appears  to  be  the  first  mention 
of  any  such  agreement)  but  had  not  yet  fulfilled 
his  agreement,  and  that  the  English  had  now  come 
for  them,  and,  if  the  Pequots  were  wise,  they  would 
immediately  give  them  up.  They  then  demanded 
one  thousand  fathoms  of  wampum  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  English  property  and  for  their  faith- 
lessness in  not  observing  the  treaty.  The  Pequot 
ambassador  tried  to  justify  the  killing  of  Stone  by 
telling  about  an  earlier  expedition  in  which  some 
whites  (Dutch)  had  seized  their  sachem  and  de- 
manded a ransom  of  a bushel  of  wampum;  that  they 
had  promised  to  send  the  sachem  ashore  upon  the 
collection  of  this  wampum;  that  the  Indians  had 
collected  the  wampum  and  paid  it  to  them  and  they 
then  brought  the  sachem  ashore  dead.  When  Stone 
came,  they  did  not  know  the  difference  between  the 
Dutch  and  the  English  and  did  what  they  did  to 
avenge  their  sachem’s  death. 

Endicott  refused  to  accept  this  explanation  and 
persisted  in  his  demand  for  the  heads  of  those  who 
had  slain  their  people.  Endicott’s  men  accom- 
plished nothing  but  the  burning  of  wigwams,  wast- 
ing the  corn,  and  staving  canoes,  and  then  returned 
to  Boston.  This  exasperated  the  Pequots  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  endeavored  to  induce  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  to  join  with  them  in  a general  uprising, 


204 


MASSASOIT 


as  related  by  Miantonomo  to  Roger  Williams.  Mas- 
sachusetts colonists,  though  having  banished  Wil- 
liams because  of  his  heterodox  views,  appealed  to 
him  to  use  his  influence  with  the  Narragansetts  to 
prevent  the  culmination  of  this  attempt,  and,  for- 
tunately for  the  colonists,  Williams  succeeded,  if 
indeed  the  Narragansetts  seriously  entertained  the 
proposition. 

The  Pequots  seem  to  have  become  actively  hos- 
tile to  the  English  from  this  time,  attempting,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  to  secure  the  assistance  of  their 
constant  enemies,  the  Narragansetts,  in  a general 
uprising,  and,  failing  in  this,  they  started  in  on  their 
own  account  in  the  spring  of  1637,  by  attacking 
Weathersfield  and  Saybrook. 

These  open  acts  of  aggression  aroused  the  Con- 
necticut colonies,  and  their  anxiety  soon  spread  to 
those  of  Massachusetts.  At  Hartford  on  May  1, 
the  general  court  adopted  an  order  the  beginning 
of  which  was  as  follows:  “It  is  ordered  that  there 
shall  be  an  offensive  war  against  the  Pequoitt,  and 
that  there  shall  90  men  be  levied  out  of  the  three 
Plantacions,  Harteford,  Weathersfield  and  Windsor 
(vizt)  out  of  Harteford  42,  Windsor  30,  Weathers- 
field 18,  under  comande  of  Captaine  Jo.  Mason.” 
June  2,  a second  levy  of  thirty  was  made,  as  follows, 
“Harteford  14,  Windsor  10,  Weathersfield  6,”  and  on 
June  26  still  another  of  ten  apportioned  to  “Harte- 
ford 5,  Windsor  3,  Weathersfield  2.” 

Massachusetts,  alarmed  by  the  disquieting  re- 
ports brought  in  and  sent  in  by  Miantonomo,  and 
the  Saybrook  and  Weathersfield  massacres,  had 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  205 

started  preparations  even  earlier  than  Connecticut, 
for  on  April  18,  at  a session  of  the  General  Court,  a 
levy  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  had  been  ordered, 
and  the  sum  of  six  hundred  pounds  had  been  appro- 
priated to  meet  the  expenses.  It  was  expressly  pro- 
vided that  the  forty  men  that  “were  lately  sent  to 
Saybrook”  were  to  be  accounted  of  said  number. 
These  forty  were  the  men  who  made  up  the  expedi- 
tion sent  to  the  Narragansett  country  to  join  Mian- 
tonomo’s  force  as  referred  to  in  an  earlier  chapter. 

Plymouth,  on  June  7,  provided  for  raising  thirty 
men  for  the  land  forces  and  as  “many  as  necessary 
to  man  the  barque,”  by  voluntary  enlistment. 
Forty  men  volunteered  unconditionally  and  three 
more  “if  they  should  be  prest.” 

Mason’s  orders  were  to  sail  down  the  Connecti- 
cut to  Saybrook  and  attack  the  Pequot  forts,  of 
which  there  were  two,  from  the  west;  but  he  decided 
to  disobey  the  order  and  to  attack  from  the  east. 
His  expedition  left  Hartford  on  May  10,  and  arrived 
in  Narragansett  Bay  on  the  twentieth.  The  next 
day  being  the  Sabbath  they  stayed  on  their  boats. 
Tuesday  they  disembarked  and  Wednesday  re- 
ceived word  from  Roger  Williams  of  the  arrival  of 
forty  men  from  Massachusetts  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Patrick.  Williams  requested  them  to 
wait  for  this  reenforcement;  but,  leaving  thirteen 
men  in  charge  of  the  boats,  Mason  pushed  on  with 
seventy-seven  whites,  sixty  Mohicans  and  two  hun- 
dred or  more  Narragansetts.  The  next  morning 
they  reached  a fort  of  the  Niantics  twelve  miles 
east  of  the  Paucatuc  River;  and  not  being  entirely 


206 


MASSASOIT 


sure  of  the  friendliness  or  even  neutrality  of  Nini- 
gret,  the  Niantic  Sachem,  they  surrounded  the  fort. 
Two  hundred  warriors  from  this  tribe  then  joined 
them  and  they  started  out,  seventy-seven  whites 
and  a motley  gathering  of  five  hundred  Narragan- 
setts,  Niantics  and  Mohicans. 

One  writer  of  comparatively  recent  times,  who 
derives  his  information  concerning  the  expedition 
from  Captain  Mason,  Trumbull  and  others,  says 
the  start  was  made  on  June  5,  but  other  historians 
fix  the  date  of  the  attack  on  the  Pequot  fort  as 
May  26,  and  we  are  naturally  led  to  inquire  why 
Mason  delayed  so  long  after  reaching  and  surround- 
ing the  Niantic  fort.  They  left  the  place  of  debar- 
kation on  Wednesday,  May  23,  and  arrived  at  the 
Niantic  fort  the  next  morning,  and  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  were  delayed  there. 

On  arriving  at  the  frontier  the  same  writer  tells 
us  some  of  the  Narragansetts  seemed  to  be  seized 
with  fear  and  turned  back,  but  Captain  Mason 
pressed  on,  and  on  halting  for  the  night  at  a point 
three  miles  west  of  the  Paucatuc  River,  learned  of 
the  location  of  the  two  forts  of  the  Pequots,  one  of 
which  was  on  the  Pequot  or  Niantic  River  and  the 
other  on  the  Mystic.  As  the  most  westerly  one 
could  not  be  reached  before  midnight,  Mason  de- 
cided to  attack  that  on  the  Mystic  first,  and  to  camp 
at  Porter’s  Rocks,  a short  distance  from  the  fort,  the 
following  night  and  make  an  assault  early  in  the 
morning. 

Their  presence  at  Porter’s  Rocks  was  known  to 
the  occupants  of  the  fort,  for  at  their  last  camp  the 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  207 

troops  could  plainly  hear  the  Indians  shouting  their 
defiance.  At  three  o’clock  in  the  morning  prepara- 
tions for  the  attack  were  begun.  There  were  two 
entrances  to  the  fort,  and  the  plan  of  assault  in- 
volved the  entrance  of  one  of  these  by  Captain 
Mason  with  a part  of  the  force  and  the  other  by 
Captain  Underhill  with  the  remainder.  Their  In- 
dian allies,  having  been  encouraged  or  restrained 
from  retreating  only  by  Mason’s  urgent  appeal  to 
them  to  stay  and  see  whether  the  English  would 
fight  or  not,  formed  a circle  far  in  the  rear.  It  is 
related  that  Uncas  was  present  in  person  at  the 
attack  and  when  asked  how  many  of  the  Mohicans 
would  run,  replied,  “all  but  me.”  (And  this  turned 
out  to  be  true  in  a sense,  for  Mason  says  they  all 
deserted  except  Uncas  after  the  fight.) 

Mason  and  Underhill  reached  their  objectives  at 
almost  the  same  moment,  and  Underhill  entered 
without  opposition,  but  when  Mason  was  within  a 
few  feet  of  his  entrance  the  barking  of  a dog  aroused 
the  sentry  who  rushed  back  shouting,  “Owanux, 
Owanux,”  the  English,  the  English.  The  Indians 
were  so  panic-stricken  by  the  suddenness  of  the 
attack  that  they  offered  very  little  effective  resist- 
ance, the  English  immediately  coming  to  close  quar- 
ters and  using  swords  as  well  as  muskets.  Mason 
ordered  fire-brands  applied  to  the  seventy  wigwams 
within  the  fortification,  and  in  a very  short  time  the 
work  of  destruction  was  complete,  the  whites  form- 
ing a close  inner  circle,  and  the  Indians  an  outer 
circle  to  stop  any  who  succeeded  in  getting  through 
the  inner  line.  Captain  Mason  says  between  six 


208 


MASSASOIT 


and  seven  hundred  Pequot  warriors  perished  in  this 
attack,  one  hundred  and  fifty  having  come  from 
the  other  fort  during  the  night;  seven  were  cap- 
tured and  seven  escaped.  It  is  also  said  that  three 
hundred  came  up  from  the  other  fort  and  attacked 
the  English  while  on  their  way  to  the  Pequot  or 
Niantic  River  where  they  were  to  meet  their  vessels, 
but  they  kept  them  at  bay  until  the  arrival  of  the 
boats.  Captain  Patrick  and  his  forty  men  were  on 
the  vessels,  and  twenty  men  from  Massachusetts 
arrived  in  time  to  join  in  the  attack  on  the  fort. 
This  accounts  for  the  presence  of  Captain  Underhill 
who  was  a Massachusetts  man.  Outside  of  these 
twenty,  Mason  had  no  active  assistance  in  the  as- 
sault, and  the  entire  attacking  party  consisted  of 
less  than  one  hundred  men,  of  whom  two  were  killed 
and  twenty  wounded. 

Mason  then  took  up  his  march  to  Saybrook  in- 
stead of  returning  by  the  boats,  no  doubt  intending 
to  complete  the  work  he  had  so  auspiciously  begun, 
and  gather  in  the  remnants  of  the  tribe.  On  the 
way  to  Saybrook  they  fell  in  with  a “people  called 
Nayanticks,  belonging  to  the  Pequots,  who  fled  to 
a swamp  for  refuge.”  These  were  the  western  Nian- 
tics,  the  eastern  branch  of  the  tribe  being  the  people 
whom  Mason  found  east  of  the  Paucatuc  River,  and 
some  two  hundred  of  whom  joined  him  in  the 
expedition. 

Mason  tells  us  that  the  remnant  “fled  into  several 
parts  toward  Manhatance”  (Manhattan?),  and  two 
hundred  old  men,  women  and  children,  who  were 
found  in  a swamp  near  New  Haven,  gave  them- 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  209 

selves  up,  and  the  rest  were  finally  rounded  up  in 
a swamp  in  Fairfield  where  they  were  completely 
surrounded;  but  about  sixty  or  seventy  broke 
through  that  part  of  the  line  held  by  Captain 
Patrick  and  escaped;  and  one  hundred  and  eighty 
were  captured. 

DeForest  says  that  in  this  flight  they  passed 
through  the  territory  of  the  Hammonassetts,  Quini- 
poigs  and  Wepauwags  or  Paugussetts,  and  of  course 
they  would  of  necessity  cross  the  land  of  the  western 
Niantics  before  coming  to  any  of  these. 

The  men  who  made  this  last  stand  must  have 
been  the  occupants  of  the  western  fort,  who  made 
their  escape  after  the  disastrous  defeat  of  their 
tribesmen  at  the  Mystic  fort.  Sassacus  himself 
was  in  the  western  fort,  but  abandoned  his  tribe  and, 
with  twenty  men,  including  one  of  his  brothers  and 
at  least  five  sachems,  sought  safety  with  the  Mo- 
hawks, probably  preferring  to  take  chances  with 
them,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  at  some  earlier 
time  he  had  made  war  upon  them,  rather  than  face 
capture  at  the  hands  of  the  English  and  their  Mo- 
hican and  Narragansett  allies,  and  the  fate  that  he 
knew  awaited  him  if  taken  by  them.  He  may 
have  thought  that  the  Mohawks  would  extend  to 
him  in  his  humbled  position  the  hospitality  of  a foe- 
man  to  his  fallen  enemy.  If  such  was  his  belief  he 
miscalculated  the  Mohawk  character,  for  they  put 
him  and  all  of  his  party  except  one  named  Minotto, 
who  escaped  by  flight,  to  death  and  the  following 
August  they  sent  his  scalp  with  that  of  his  brother 
and  five  sachems  to  Hartford.  It  is  claimed  that 


210 


MASSASOIT 


the  Mohawks  were  induced  to  thus  destroy  the 
party  by  bribes  from  the  Narragansetts,  but  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  impelling  motive,  it  does 
not  speak  very  highly  for  the  Mohawks.  If  they 
did  not  wish  to  harbor  them  through  a desire  to 
avoid  conflict  with  the  English,  as  neutrals  they 
might  at  least  have  allowed  them  to  pass  on  or,  at 
the  worst,  have  turned  them  over  to  the  whites;  not 
that  the  latter  course  would  have  helped  the  Pe- 
quots,  but  it  would  have  placed  the  responsibility 
for  their  subsequent  treatment  where  it  belonged. 

And  so  perished  the  great  Pequot  nation  and  Sas- 
sacus,  its  chief.  Some  historians  speak  of  refugees 
scattered  here  and  there,  and  tell  us  that  some  of 
them  fled  to  Uncas  and  some  even  to  their  ancient 
enemies,  the  eastern  Niantics  and  Narragansetts; 
and  then  go  on  to  say  that  on  October  1,  1638, 
there  were  found  to  be  two  hundred  men  of  them, 
including  the  old  and  feeble  and  the  young  and 
strong,  who  were  divided  as  follows : eighty  to  Mian- 
tonomo,  twenty  to  Ninigret  and  one  hundred  to 
Uncas.  They  were  prohibited  from  using  the  name 
Pequot  and  were  ordered  to  assume  the  name  of  the 
tribe  to  which  they  were  attached.  That  this  order 
was  not  strictly  enforced  appears  from  the  fact  that 
in  1646  two  small  bodies  of  them  had  settled  in  their 
old  hunting  grounds,  one  near  the  Thames  and  one 
near  the  Paucatuc,  where  they  were  known  by  the 
old  name.  The  head  of  one  of  these  groups  was  a 
Pequot,  and  of  the  other,  a nephew  of  Ninigret, 
named  Cushawashet,  but  more  commonly  called 
Wequash  Cook  and  Herman  Garrett. 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  211 

In  1655,  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colo- 
nies recognized  these  two  bodies  and  appointed 
Garrett  governor  over  the  Paucatuc  group  and  Cas- 
sassinimon  governor  of  the  other  group,  said  then 
to  be  located  near  New  London.  This  act  of  the 
commissioners  was  not  pleasing  to  Uncas  and  he 
protested,  but  they  refused  to  revoke  the  appoint- 
ments, and  instead  conferred  upon  the  two  gover- 
nors all  royal  privileges  formerly  belonging  to 
sachems  only. 

Some  historians  vary  the  figures  given  above  in 
writing  of  the  distribution  of  the  remnant  of  the 
tribe,  and  some  speak  of  them  as  though  they  were 
not  refugees,  but  those  who  surrendered  at  New 
Haven  or  were  captured  at  Fairfield,  and  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises,  if  they  were  not  the  captives 
so  taken  what  did  become  of  the  latter?  History 
does  not  leave  us  entirely  in  the  dark  on  this  point, 
however,  as  there  is  enough  written  to  warrant  the 
belief  that  they  were  distributed  as  slaves  among 
the  colonists,  a fate  that  certainly  befell  the  women, 
some  of  them  being  taken  to  Massachusetts,  where, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  one  “little  young  squaw,” 
said  to  be  a daughter  of  Sassacus,  was  given  to  Sas- 
samon  for  his  services  in  the  war,  and  afterwards 
became  his  wife.  So  these  two  hundred  probably 
were  the  scattering  refugees;  but,  if  they  were,  a 
simple  problem  in  addition  gives  us  from  ten  to 
twelve  hundred  Pequot  warriors,  where  Endicott 
saw  three  hundred,  and  DeForest  thinks  this  was 
the  total  strength  of  the  tribes,  twenty-six  in  num- 
ber, under  Sassacus,  or  at  least  of  as  many  of  them 


212 


MASSASOIT 


as  were  with  him  in  this  war.  Unless  these  refugees 
and  the  captives  taken  in  the  Fairfield  swamp  were 
the  same,  there  were  three  hundred  and  eighty,  be- 
sides the  sixty  or  seventy  that  escaped  and  the 
twenty  who  fled  with  Sassacus,  after  the  fight  at  the 
Mystic  fort. 

My  reason  for  saying  that  these  two  hundred  who 
were  divided  were  probably  actual  refugees  is  that 
there  appears  to  have  been  some  sort  of  treaty  or 
agreement  between  the  whites  and  the  Narragan- 
setts,  Niantics  and  Mohicans  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  by  which  the  Indians  bound  themselves 
not  to  harbor  any  Pequots,  which  would  preclude 
any  prior  distribution  of  the  captives;  and  it  is 
worth  noticing  at  this  time  that  the  only  tribe  that 
lived  up  to  this  agreement  was  the  Narragansetts 
under  Canonicus  and  Miantonomo,  whom  the  whites 
subsequently  gave  up  to  be  murdered  by  the  treach- 
erous Uncas. 

As  early  as  July,  1637, — and  this  date  lends  color 
to  the  belief  that  these  two  hundred  were  refugees 
— the  Massachusetts  authorities  had  a quarrel  with 
Ninigret  concerning  the  matter,  and  the  Narragan- 
setts told  the  authorities  at  Boston  that  Uncas 
was  protecting  a large  number  of  them;  but  before 
taking  up  the  matter  of  this  revelation,  I will  refer 
briefly  to  Captain  Mason’s  account  of  the  trouble 
the  Connecticut  authorities  had  with  Ninigret  on 
the  same  score.  He  says  that  some  of  the  cap- 
tives — mark  the  word ! - — settled  at  Paucatuc  con- 
trary to  agreement,  as  claimed  by  the  English;  and 
he  was  sent  against  them.  When  he  arrived  on  the 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  213 

scene  he  saw  three  hundred  armed  Indians  across 
the  river,  having  previously  been  attacked  by  Nini- 
gret’s  warriors  of  whom  he  captured  seven. 

Otash,  Miantonomo’s  brother,  then  came  up  and 
said  they  were  Miantonomo’s  men.  Ninigret’s  men 
were  defiant,  and,  when  told  that  the  whites  had 
come  to  destroy  the  Pequots  because  they  had  not 
kept  their  word,  in  that  they  were  not  to  inhabit 
there,  said  the  Pequots  were  good  men  and  they 
would  fight  for  them;  they  would  fight  Uncas  but 
not  the  whites,  who  were  spirits.  Mason  pressed  on 
and  destroyed  crops  and  wigwams. 

Among  the  Pequots  harbored  by  Ninigret  were 
two  brothers  of  Sassacus,  and  a report  that  he  was 
about  to  give  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  one  of 
them  subsequently  caused  the  colonists  some  anx- 
iety. There  appear  to  be  some  inconsistencies  in 
Mason’s  narrative  as  the  men  could  not  well  have 
been  Miantonomo’s  and  Ninigret’s  unless  the  former 
had  some  greater  authority  over  the  latter  than  he 
seems  to  have  exercised. 

To  return  to  Uncas;  upon  the  defeat  of  the  Pe- 
quots and  the  almost  complete  annihilation  of  the 
tribe,  followed  by  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the 
name,  the  Mohicans  became  the  dominant  tribe  in 
the  federation  and  Uncas  was  their  Sachem.  De- 
Forest  says  of  him  he  “was  selfish,  jealous  and  tyran- 
nical.” He  might  have  said  a great  deal  more 
that  is  not  generally  considered  complimentary,  and 
still  have  been  within  bounds. 

When  Wopigwooit  was  slain  by  the  Dutch,  Uncas 
laid  claim  to  the  Great  Chieftaincy,  basing  his  claim 


214 


MASSASOIT 


on  his  own  descent  and  strengthening  it  by  the 
royal  birth  of  his  wife.  He  engaged  in  open  war 
with  Sassacus  over  the  succession;  but  most  of  the 
tribes  of  the  federation  adhered  to  Sassacus,  and 
Uncas  was  defeated  and  fled  to  the  Narragansetts. 
This  life  of  an  exile  apparently  becoming  irksome  to 
him,  he  sent  a humble  message  to  Sassacus  begging 
permission  to  return  to  his  people.  Sassacus,  more 
magnanimous  than  wise  in  this  respect,  granted  the 
desired  permission  on  condition  of  submission  and 
good  behavior  for  the  future.  Uncas,  with  the  du- 
plicity, deceit  and  treachery  which  marked  his 
entire  career,  promised  to  behave  and  came  back 
to  the  Mohicans. 

Apparently  this  was  but  the  first  step  towards 
the  accomplishment  of  a well-defined  purpose  to 
begin  his  plottings  against  Sassacus  again,  for  in  a 
short  time  he  was  once  more  a fugitive  from  his 
own  domain.  Again  he  was  pardoned  upon  his  sub- 
mission and  promise  of  good  behavior,  and  again 
was  compelled  to  flee.  On  each  of  these  successive 
flights  to  the  Narragansett  country,  some  of  his 
warriors  remained,  until  finally  his  forces  were  so  re- 
duced by  these  losses  that  he  was  no  longer  danger- 
ous, and  he  was  again  permitted  to  return,  although 
deprived  of  all  of  his  lands.  He  then  devoted  his 
entire  attention  to  the  hunt,  in  which  two  sons  of 
a sister  of  Sassacus  were  his  constant  companions. 
These  men,  who,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  Un- 
cas’  genealogy  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Pequots,  were 
cousins  of  his  wife,  afterwards  quarreled  with  Sas- 
sacus and  fled  to  the  Narragansett  country  where 
they  remained. 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  215 

When  the  Narragansetts  informed  the  authorities 
at  Boston  that  Uncas  was  protecting  many  Pequot 
fugitives,  that  worthy  came  to  Boston  with  a 
retinue  of  thirty-seven  warriors,  bringing  a present 
of  twenty  fathoms  of  wampum  for  the  governor, 
which  he  refused  to  receive  unless  some  explanation 
was  made  of  Uncas’  conduct  in  giving  assistance  to 
the  Pequots.  When  this  refusal'  was  communicated 
to  him  he  was  somewhat  perplexed,  but  only  for  a 
moment,  for,  like  the  accomplished  liar  he  was,  he 
soon  recovered  his  composure  and  solemnly  assured 
the  authorities  that  he  had  no  Pequots  and  that  all 
those  who  accompanied  him  were  true  Mohicans. 

The  authorities,  taking  him  at  his  word,  accepted 
his  present;  Uncas  then  placed  his  hand  on  his 
heart  and  addressed  the  governor  in  these  words: 
“This  heart  is  not  mine.  It  is  yours.  I have  no 
men;  they  are  all  yours.  Command  me  any  hard 
thing  and  I will  do  it.  I will  never  believe  any 
Indian’s  words  against  the  English.  If  any  Indian 
shall  kill  an  Englishman,  I will  put  him  to  death, 
be  he  ever  so  dear  to  me.” 

On  their  way  back  from  Boston  to  their  own 
country  they  passed  Roger  Williams’  house;  and  one 
of  their  party,  having  become  lame,  stopped  there. 
This  man  was  named  Wequanmugs,  the  son  of  a 
Narragansett  father  and  a Mohican  mother,  and  so, 
free  to  travel  in  the  hunting  grounds  of  both  tribes. 
In  a conversation  with  Mr.  Williams  he  told  him 
that  Miantonomo  had  only  two  Pequots,  both  of 
whom  had  been  captured  by  his  warriors  and  were 
not  voluntary  refugees  under  his  protection;  that  the 


216 


MASSASOIT 


Niantics  had  about  sixty  under  Wequash  Cook, 
Ninigret’s  nephew,  who,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
under  the  name  of  Herman  Garrett  was  later  ap- 
pointed governor  over  them  with  the  dignity  of 
Sachem. 

Williams  then  inquired  if  there  were  any  Pequots 
in  the  party  that  accompanied  Uncas  to  Boston, 
to  which  he  replied  that  there  were  six  and  gave 
their  names,  saying  at  the  same  time  that  two  of 
them  had  slain  Englishmen. ..  Williams,  who*  ap- 
parently had  not  the  confidence  in  Uncas  that  the 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  authorities  always 
manifested,  wrote  down  the  names  and  sent  them 
to  Governor  Winthrop  with  an  account  of  his  con- 
versation with  Wequanmugs.  DeForest  observes: 
“The  revelation  must  have  been  peculiarly  gratify- 
ing to  Winthrop,  as  he  had  given  to  the  sachem  a 
fine  red  coat  on  his  departure,  and  had  defrayed  his 
expenses  while  he  remained  in  Boston,  and  furnished 
him  with  provision  for  his  homeward  journey,  and 
dismissed  him  with  a general  letter  of  protection.” 
This  visit  of  Uncas  to  Boston  was  in  July,  1638, 
three  months  before  the  distribution  of  the  two  hun- 
dred refugees,  and  while  the  original  agreement  be- 
tween the  whites  and  the  Indians  concerning  the 
harboring  of  Pequots  was  in  full  force. 

During  the  same  summer  that  Uncas  made  this 
visit  to  Boston,  some  Pequots  who  had  not  sub- 
mitted to  or  taken  refuge  with  any  other  tribe,  but 
had  remained  independent,  sent  some  of  their  chief 
men  to  Hartford  with  an  offer  to  give  themselves 
up  to  the  English  if  their  fives  might  be  spared. 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  217 

Both  Uncas  and  Miantonomo  were  thereupon 
summoned  to  Hartford  to  confer  with  the  authori- 
ties concerning  the  disposition  of  this  group,  as  well 
as  to  adjust  certain  disputes  between  themselves. 
Miantonomo  set  out  with  an  imposing  train  com- 
posed of  his  wife  and  children,  several  of  his  sachems 
and  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors. 
Roger  Williams  and  two  other  Englishmen  also  ac- 
companied him.  Before  reaching  Hartford  they 
were  met  by  a number  of  Narragansetts  returning 
to  their  own  country  from  Connecticut,  who  com- 
plained that  the  Pequots  and  Mohicans  had  robbed 
them;  and  following  close  on  the  heels  of  this  com- 
plaint came  another  from  a Nipmuck  clan,  subject 
to  the  Narragansetts,  that  they  had  been  plundered 
shortly  before  by  a band  of  six  or  seven  hundred 
Indians  of  these  two  tribes  and  their  confederates. 
They  reported  that  this  band  of  marauders  had 
spoiled  twenty-three  fields  of  corn  and  robbed  three 
Narragansetts  who  were  staying  with  the  Nipmucks, 
and  were  then  lying  in  wait  for  Miantonomo  and  his 
party;  and  they  said  that  some  of  the  band  had 
threatened  to  boil  Miantonomo  in  a kettle. 

Miantonomo  was  not  to  be  deterred  by  threats 
of  this  character  and  pressed  on,  reaching  Hartford 
in  safety,  where  he  proceeded  to  lay  before  the 
Council  these  several  causes  of  complaint.  Uncas 
was  not  there,  having  sent  a messenger  to  tell  the 
authorities  that  he  was  too  lame  to  attend.  Haynes, 
one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Council,  and  later  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony,  said  this  was  a very  lame  ex- 
cuse, and  sent  messengers  to  request  him  to  make 


218 


MASSASOIT 


his  appearance.  The  urgency  of  this  message 
seems  to  have  proved  a very  effective  liniment,  for 
he  recovered  from  his  lameness  at  once  and  re- 
paired to  Hartford,  bringing  with  him  an  Indian 
to  testify  that  the  party  which  had  been  in  the 
Nipmuck  country  consisted  of  only  one  hundred 
and  not  six  or  seven,  and  that  they  took  only  a 
little  corn  for  roasting  and  did  a few  other  harmless 
things  but  no  damage.  This  was  flatly  contradicted 
by  the  Narragansetts,  but  the  Council  was  unable 
to  decide  where  the  truth  lay  and  dismissed  the 
charges. 

This  was  one  of  the  early  instances  of  the  leaning 
of  the  colonial  authorities  towards  Uncas,  to  which 
I have  called  general  attention  in  a preceding  chap- 
ter, and  of  which  I may  have  occasion  to  cite  other 
instances.  He  had  broken  his  promise  concerning 
the  harboring  of  Pequots.  He  had  lied  to  Governor 
Winthrop  about  it.  He  had  deliberately  attempted 
to  evade  their  request  to  come  to  Hartford  for  a 
conference  with  the  Council  and  Miantonomo  con- 
cerning the  disposition  of  Pequots  who  had  offered 
to  give  themselves  up,  and  to  discuss  his  own  dif- 
ferences with  Miantonomo,  and  when  he  did  come 
finally  on  second  and  urgent  request,  brought  one  of 
his  own  followers  as  a witness  to  meet  a charge  that 
he  did  not  know  had  been  preferred,  unless  his  own 
guilty  knowledge  of  its  truth  was  sufficient  to  make 
it  certain  that  the  charge  would  be  made;  and  the 
word  of  this  subject  of  his  was  taken  as  against  that 
of  the  Narragansetts,  and  he  was  found  not  guilty. 

The  magistrates  then  attempted  to  effect  a recon- 


PEQTJOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  219 

ciliation  between  the  two  sachems;  and  Mian- 
tonomo, although  the  party  aggrieved  by  their 
decision,  entered  into  the  spirit  that  prompted  their 
efforts,  and,  with  the  magnanimity  that  always 
marked  his  character,  twice  invited  Uncas  to  feast 
with  him  on  some  venison  which  his  hunters  had 
brought  in.  This  invitation  Uncas  sullenly  refused, 
notwithstanding  the  urgent  request  of  the  magis- 
trates that  he  accept. 

Before  leaving  Hartford,  Miantonomo,  at  a 
private  conference,  gave  the  Council  the  names  of 
all  the  remaining  members  of  the  Pequot  tribe  who 
had  been  guilty  of  killing  Englishmen.  A list  of 
these  names  was  read  to  Uncas  who  admitted  that 
it  was  correct.  Miantonomo  then  said  that  of  the 
remnants  of  the  tribe  Canonicus  had  none;  he  had 
ten  or  eleven  out  of  the  seventy  who  had  submitted 
to  him,  the  others  never  having  come  in,  or  having 
returned  to  their  old  hunting  grounds  after  coming 
in;  and  the  rest  were  either  with  the  Mohicans  or 
in  their  ancient  territory,  which  it  will  readily  be 
seen  amounted  to  the  same  thing,  as  the  Pequot 
territory  naturally  became  Mohican  territory  when 
the  last-named  tribe  gained  the  ascendency  in  the 
federation.  If  there  is  any  truth  to  the  charge  that 
Miantonomo  was  jealous  of  the  increase  of  Uncas’ 
power  by  the  addition  of  the  Pequots,  we  do  not 
need  to  look  further  for  the  reason.  It  was  not  be- 
cause of  the  allotment  of  them  to  the  several  tribes, 
but  the  fact  that  Uncas  and  Ninigret,  who  was  the 
sachem  of  a tribe  that  had  been  of  the  old  Mohican 
federation,  though  under  Narragansett  protection 


220 


MASSASOIT 


and  living  on  Narragansett  territory,  had  almost 
all  of  them,  no  doubt  through  their  own  in- 
ducement to  them  to  live  in  their  territory;  and 
Ninigret  in  the  event  of  hostilities  was  just  as 
likely  to  favor  Uncas  as  he  was  to  side  with 
Miantonomo. 

On  the  presentation  of  this  last  statement  as  to 
the  then  location  of  the  remaining  Pequots,  to 
Uncas,  he  attempted  to  evade  the  question  and  the 
giving  in  of  any  account,  saying  that  he  did  not 
know  the  names  of  his  Pequots,  that  he  had  only 
twenty,  but  that  Ninigret  and  three  other  Niantic 
sachems  had  many  of  them.  He  afterwards  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  thirty,  and  was  allowed  ten 
days  to  bring  in  their  names,  and  messengers  were 
dispatched  to  the  Niantic  country  to  secure  a list 
of  the  Pequots  with  them. 

It  was  on  the  lists  thus  furnished  that  the  allot- 
ment was  made  on  October  1,  1638.  From  what  we 
know  of  Uncas,  it  requires  no  great  stretching  of 
our  credulity  to  believe  that  he  might,  at  that  very 
time,  be  protecting  many  more  than  he  reported, 
and  Miantonomo,  knowing  that  this  was  likely  to 
be  the  case,  had  another  reason  for  fearing  trouble 
on  account  of  his  double  dealing  and  deceit,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  colonial 
authorities  to  favor  Uncas  in  all  matters  in  con- 
troversy between  them,  which  first  manifested  itself 
at  the  conference  to  which  I have  referred  and 
which  continued  constantly  to  the  end. 

I have  already  called  attention  to  the  hostility  of 
these  two  chiefs  and  of  the  complaints  lodged  with 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  221 

the  authorities  by  Uncas  against  Miantonomo  dur- 
ing the  life  of  the  latter,  in  the  chapter  devoted  to 
the  last-named  chief,  as  well  as  to  the  culmination 
of  the  controversy  between  them  by  the  death  of 
Miantonomo  on  Sachem’s  Plain;  and  without  re- 
peating, I will  now  proceed  to  a brief  recital  of  some 
of  the  principal  events  in  which  Uncas  figured  after 
he  had  secured  the  colonists’  consent  to  the  cold- 
blooded murder  of  his  rival. 

His  troubles  did  not  cease  upon  the  removal  of 
Miantonomo,  but  rather  seemed  to  increase,  the 
first  fresh  outbreak  resulting  from  the  claim  of  the 
Narragansetts  that  he  had  agreed  to  release  their 
chief  upon  payment  of  a ransom,  a part  of  which 
had  been  paid  when  the  jealous  Mohican,  with  his 
usual  treachery,  put  him  to  death.  We  have  seen 
that  the  authorities  decided  this  case  in  favor  of 
Uncas,  but  from  what  has  already  appeared  con- 
cerning the  character  of  that  chief  and  of  his  ma- 
chinations and  the  tendency  of  the  whites  to  favor 
him,  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  believe  that  this  was 
one  of  those  judgments  based  upon  policy  rather 
than  sound  reasoning,  with  which  the  history  of 
that  period  abounds. 

In  the  fall  of  1646,  Herman  Garrett,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  established  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
group  of  Pequots  west  of  the  Paucatuc  River,  com- 
plained that  Uncas  and  three  hundred  of  his  warriors 
had  attacked  one  of  their  hunting  parties  and  plun- 
dered them.  Upon  being  summoned  to  Court  on 
this  complaint,  Uncas  admitted  that  he  had  done 
wrong  in  committing  this  act  of  violence  in  such 


222 


MASSASOIT 


close  proximity  to  the  English  settlement,  but  at- 
tempted to  palliate  the  offence  by  a counter  charge 
that  Garrett’s  men  had  hunted  on  Mohican  grounds 
without  leave. 

Before  Uncas  could  get  away  from  New  Haven, 
where  this  complaint  was  heard,  William  Morton  of 
New  London  came  forward  with  another  charge. 
Accompanied  by  three  Pequots,  Morton  came  in 
and  related  a startling  story  told  to  him  by  one  of 
the  Pequots  who  came  with  him,  in  which  this  man, 
whose  name  was  Wampushet,  said  Uncas  had  hired 
him  and  two  Pequot  powwows  for  fifteen  fathoms  of 
wampum  to  wound  another  Indian  and  then  charge 
the  crime  upon  Garrett. 

Wampushet  was  then  called  before  the  Council, 
and  denied  the  story  he  had  told  to  Morton,  but  not 
that  he  had  told  it;  and  then  proceeded  to  charge 
the  entire  plot  to  Garrett,  just  as  he  had  told  Mor- 
ton it  was  originally  planned.  They  were  unable 
to  shake  him  in  his  last  version,  and  as  there  was 
no  evidence  against  Uncas  except  what  Wampushet 
had  previously  told  Morton  and  now  stoutly  denied, 
the  complaint  was  dismissed.  Morton  and  the 
other  Pequots  ‘who  came  in  with  him  declared  that 
Uncas  must  have  hired  Wampushet  to  change  his 
testimony,  and  this  plot  so  closely  resembles  the 
one  revealed  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities,  and 
disbelieved  by  them,  at  the  time  when  Uncas 
claimed  to  have  been  shot  through  the  arm  with  an 
arrow,  that  we  are  quite  naturally  led  to  inquire 
whether  this  was  not  actually  one  of  the  means  em- 
ployed by  Uncas  to  rid  himself  of  rivals  or  enemies 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  223 

whom  he  feared  or  whose  power  he  desired  to  curb, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  English. 

In  this  last  cited  case,  in  order  to  obtain  a clear 
view  of  the  situation,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Garrett  was  a Niantic,  and  a nephew  of  the 
sachem  of  that  tribe;  the  group  over  whom  he  had 
established  himself  were  living  on  old  Pequot  terri- 
tory, and  if  suspicion  could  be  fastened  on  Garrett, 
it  would  naturally  reflect  upon  the  Niantics,  and 
this  group  of  Pequots  would  naturally  be  given  to 
Uncas  by  the  English. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  last  affair  that  forty- 
eight  Pequots  presented  themselves  before  the  Coun- 
cil. They  said  they  had  not  fought  against  the 
whites,  having  fled  the  country  when  the  war  broke 
out,  and  presumably  returned  to  their  old  hunt- 
ing grounds  after  its  conclusion.  They  complained 
that  Uncas  had  taken  away  their  wives,  robbed 
them  of  their  corn  and  beans,  spoiled  their  nets  and 
extorted  wampum  from  them.  Uncas  did  not  ap- 
pear in  person  to  answer  to  this  charge,  but  sent 
Foxon,  his  Chief  Counsellor,  who  either  pretended 
ignorance,  or  attempted  to  palliate  the  offences. 

John  Winthrop  was  the  next  complainant  on  be- 
half of  a group  of  Indians,  who  charged  Uncas  and 
his  brother  Wawequa  with  having  attacked  this 
group  with  one  hundred  warriors,  plundered  the 
people  and  carried  away  their  cattle,  wampum,  bear 
skins,  beaver  skins  and  other  articles  of  value. 
Foxon  admitted  this  attack,  but  excused  Uncas,  by 
saying  that  he  had  not  personally  had  any  part  in 
it,  and  knew  nothing  about  it,  being  away  at  New 


224 


MASSASOIT 


Haven,  and  had  not  participated  in  the  spoils.  At 
this  same  time  a complaint  was  also  made  against 
him  for  having  gone  over  to  Fisher’s  Island  and 
broken  two  canoes,  frightened  an  Indian  and  plun- 
dered the  island. 

The  great  solicitude  of  the  magistrates  for  this 
precious  cut-throat  is  shown  by  the  penalty  imposed 
upon  him  for  these  three  outrages.  He  was  ordered 
to  pay  a fine  of  one  hundred  fathoms  of  wampum 
when  the  Pequots  returned  to  him.  The  Pequots, 
being  the  forty-eight  who  complained  of  his  mal- 
treatment of  them,  never  returned,  as  the  magis- 
trates must  have  foreseen,  and  so  he  escaped  scot 
free. 

About  1649  or  1650,  he  appears  to  have  had  a 
real  grievance;  for  there  seems  no  good  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  was  actually  attacked  while  on  board 
an  English  vessel,  by  Cataquin,  a Narragansett, 
who  wounded  him  in  the  breast  with  a sword  so 
seriously  that  he  came  very  near  putting  an  end  to 
complaints  both  by  and  against  the  fawning  Mo- 
hican. 

Ninigret  was  charged  with  being  the  instigator  of 
this  plot,  and  Pessacus  was  alleged  to  have  been 
implicated  in  it.  Nothing  appears  to  have  been 
pressed  against  the  latter,  but  Ninigret  went  to  Bos- 
ton where  he  attempted  to  clear  himself  by  a counter 
charge  that  the  Mohicans  had  carried  this  story; 
but  was  reminded  that  Cataquin  had  told  it  to 
Captain  Mason  and  others  when  he  surrendered  to 
the  Mohicans.  They  let  Ninigret  off  with  a sharp 
reprimand  and  warning  of  what  was  likely  to  hap- 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  225 

pen  to  him  if  he  persisted  in  his  plotting.  At  the 
same  time  they  sent  word  to  Uncas,  who  was  re- 
covering from  his  wound,  that  Cataquin  was  at  his 
disposal,  and  there  the  historians  leave  the  matter, 
probably  assuming  that  the  intelligent  reader  of 
Uncas’  life  and  character  does  not  need  to  be  told 
what  happened  to  Cataquin. 

But  the  colonial  authorities  were  not  yet  rid  of 
this  pestiferous  scoundrel,  for,  in  1653,  he  again 
sprang  into  the  lime  light  with  a complaint  to 
Haynes,  who  had  then  become  governor,  that  the 
Narragansetts  and  Niantics  were  attempting  to 
organize  an  expedition  against  him  at  New  Nether- 
lands; and  he  related  with  great  detail  how  Nini- 
gret  had  been  to  Manhattan,  where  he  had  received 
a large  box  of  powder  and  bullets  in  exchange  for  a 
large  quantity  of  wampum,  and  had  then  attended 
a council  of  Indians  from  the  Hudson  River  in  an 
endeavor  to  secure  their  assistance  in  a contemplated 
attack  upon  Uncas  and  the  English.  How  much  of 
this  had  a foundation  in  fact,  and  how  much  was 
the  product  of  Uncas’  suspicion  and  jealousy  is  not 
established.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
Ninigret  did  make  a trip  to  the  Hudson  at  about 
that  time,  but  it  was  never  shown  that  it  was  for 
any  other  purpose  than  that  of  legitimate  trade. 

At  this  same  sitting  of  the  Court,  Uncas  also 
complained  that  Ninigret  had  sent  a present  of  wam- 
pum to  a “Monheag  Sachem,”  asking  him  to  send 
men  skilful  in  magic  and  poison  and  promising  one 
hundred  fathoms  more  of  wampum  upon  the 
poisoner’s  return  after  the  accomplishment  of  the 


226 


MASSASOIT 


purpose  for  which  he  was  wanted.  Uncas  claimed 
to  have  intercepted  the  canoe  which  was  bringing 
the  party,  which  consisted  of  the  conjurer  and  six 
other  persons,  one  of  whom  was  a Pequot  and  the 
rest  Narragansetts;  he  said  that  Wampeag,  one  of 
the  Narragansetts,  had  confessed  the  entire  plot  and 
pointed  out  the  “Monheag”  who  had  been  sent  to 
carry  it  out,  whereupon  the  Mohicans  had  fallen 
upon  the  alleged  poisoner  in  a rage  and  put  him  to 
death. 

This  was  the  fourth  alleged  attempt  upon  the  life 
of  Uncas,  and  every  one  of  them  implicated  some 
rival  whose  power  he  feared,  and  whom  he  desired 
to  remove  with  the  aid  of  the  English.  They  all 
savor  so  much  of  the  craftiness  and  cunning  for 
which  he  was  so  notorious,  and  as  there  is  direct  evi- 
dence that  at  least  some  of  them  were  framed  by 
Uncas  himself,  to  say  nothing  of  the  strong  chain  of 
circumstantial  evidence  leading  to  the  same  con- 
clusion, we  are  led  to  doubt  whether  there  was  any 
real  foundation  for  any  of  them  except  the  attack 
by  Cataquin. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  authenticity  of  this  at- 
tempt seems  to  be  sufficiently  well  established  to 
give  rise  to  the  question  whether  there  may  really 
not  have  been  something  in  some  of  the  other 
charges.  That  the  English  did  not  give  full  faith 
and  credit  to  them  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that 
they  did  nothing  with  respect  to  two  of  them. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  facts,  we  are  inevi- 
tably forced  to  the  conclusion  that  Uncas  was  either 
a wily  schemer  constantly  striving  to  increase  his 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  227 

power  by  preferring  against  his  rivals  charges  based 
upon  suspicion  or  framed  by  him;  or  that  his 
enemies  really  did  make  the  attempts  with  a view 
to  ridding  the  world  of  the  most  selfish,  treacherous 
and  unscrupulous  scoundrel  produced  by  the  In- 
dians of  New  England  during  the  period  covered  by 
our  knowledge  of  them.  That  he  was  thoroughly 
despised  by  all  the  other  sachems  of  southern  New 
England  goes  without  saying,  and  their  hatred  of 
him  is  to  their  credit.  He  was  as  thoroughly  hated 
as  his  early  rival,  Miantonomo,  was  loved  and  re- 
spected. 

Puffed  up  with  the  favors  the  English  showed 
him,  and  their  apparent  readiness  to  lend  them- 
selves to  the  furtherance  of  his  schemes  by  decid- 
ing always  in  his  favor  whenever  any  issue  between 
him  and  other  Indians  was  presented,  and  letting 
him  off  without  even  a reprimand  when  he  offered 
no  defence  to  his  outrages, — in  1661  he  attacked 
the  Indians  at  Quabaug  in  western  Massachusetts, 
and  killed  some  and  took  others  prisoners.  These 
Indians  were  of  a Nipmuck  tribe  subject  to  Massa- 
soit,  and  the  Massachusetts  colonial  authorities,  in 
pursuance  of  their  treaty  obligations  to  that  chief, 
sent  word  to  Uncas,  demanding  the  release  of  the 
prisoners.  Receiving  no  reply,  they  then  arranged 
with  Captain  Mason,  who  for  twenty-five  years  had 
been  on  friendly  terms  with  Uncas,  to  repeat  the 
demand. 

Upon  Mason’s  arrival,  Uncas  at  first  excused 
himself  by  saying  that  he  had  received  the  demand 
from  Massachusetts  only  twenty  days  before;  and 


228 


MASSASOIT 


said  he  did  not  know  the  Quabaugs  were  under  the 
protection  of  the  English;  and  then  denied  that 
they  belonged  to  Ousamequim;  saying  they  were 
subjects  of  a deadly  enemy  of  the  Mohicans  named 
Onopequin;  and,  apparently  not  satisfied  with  these 
two  defences,  he  next  attempted  to  justify  his  act 
on  the  assumption  that  they  were  Ousamequin’s 
men,  by  saying  that  the  latter  had  repeatedly  waged 
war  upon  the  Mohicans  as  had  his  eldest  son  Wam- 
sutta  or  Alexander.  To  cover  his  entire  line  of 
defence,  he  then  assured  them  that,  notwithstand- 
ing all  these  things,  he  had  set  the  men  free,  al- 
though one  of  them  was  his  own  cousin,  and  had  on 
several  occasions  taken  up  arms  against  him. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  find  a more  shifty  and 
thoroughly  truckling  defence  in  the  pages  of  his- 
tory, and  on  which  part  of  it  the  commissioners  re- 
lied we  are  not  told;  and  it  may  be  that  they  did 
not  believe  any  of  it,  but  were  content  to  keep  him 
groveling  to  them.  In  any  event,  they  seem  to 
have  accepted  his  excuse,  and  not  to  have  required 
him  to  give  satisfaction.  Upon  his  defence  being 
laid  before  Wamsutta,  who  was  at  Plymouth  at  the 
time,  he  contradicted  Uncas’  statement  concerning 
the  Quabaugs  and  said  that  they  were  his  father’s 
people,  and  that  he  had  made  war  on  Uncas  only 
because  of  wrongs  he  had  done  them. 

Without  attempting  to  cover  all  his  activities,  I 
have  called  attention  to  enough  to  show  his  char- 
acter. DeForest  says:  “It  is  not  difficult  to  see 
why  Uncas  was  forever  at  sword’s  points  with 
sachems  and  tribes  of  his  own  race.  His  nature 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  229 

was  mean  and  jealous  and  he  was  tyrannical.  He 
was  treacherous  to  his  own  people.  He  would  ac- 
cuse before  the  English  some  one  or  another  as 
being  too  dangerous  or  treacherous.  He  was  the 
unscrupulous  ally  of  the  English,  obeying  every  nod 
and  sign  with  which  they  favored  him  and  took 
every  advantage  which  they  allowed,  over  his 
brethren  of  the  forest.  He  accused  Miantonomo, 
put  him  to  death,  oppressed  the  valiant  Pequots, 
tracked  Sequassen  from  his  place  of  refuge  among 
the  Pecoupans  and  surrendered  him  to  the  colonists’ 
magistrates,  and  finally  complained  to  the  English 
about  Pessacus,  Ninegret,  of  Mexam,  of  Mohansick, 
and  of  any  sachem  from  whom  he  could  possibly 
have  anything  to  fear.” 

And  this  was  the  man  whom  the  English  backed 
against  their  faithful  friend,  who  stood  before  them 
as  a man,  and  not  a slave,  who  protected  them 
without  doing  injustice  to  others,  and  of  whose  sad 
fate  DeForest  writes:  “Such  was  the  end  of  Mian- 
tonomo, a sachem  who  seems  to  have  been  re- 
spected and  loved  by  every  one  who  was  not  fearful 
of  his  power.” 

In  spite  of  his  truckling  to  the  English,  and  run- 
ning to  them  with  complaints,  and  in  spite  of  all  the 
favors  he  had  received  at  their  hands,  they  knew 
him  well  enough  not  to  trust  him  at  the  outbreak 
of  King  Philip’s  war;  and  required  him  to  give 
hostages  for  his  good  conduct;  and  he  sent  in  two 
of  his  own  sons,  brothers  of  Oweneco,  his  eldest  son, 
who  was  then  the  war  chief  of  the  nation;  and  they 
appear  to  have  remained  with  the  English  through- 


230 


MASSASOIT 


out  the  war.  Oweneco  with  two  hundred  of  his 
warriors  fought  with  the  colonial  armies  at  the 
Swamp  Fight  at  Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  on  Decem- 
ber 19,  1675,  when  fifty-one  of  them  were  killed 
and  eighty-two  wounded. 

The  Mohicans  and  Pequots  also  participated  in 
other  engagements,  fighting  with  the  colonists 
against  the  Wampanoags  and  Narragansetts,  their 
ancient  enemies,  prompted,  no  doubt,  by  a desire 
to  secure  the  overthrow  of  every  other  sachem  of 
any  importance  and  set  themselves  up  as  the  domi- 
nant Indian  power  in  southern  New  England  up- 
held by  English  forces.  It  would  seem  from  our 
study  of  the  character  of  Uncas,  that  this  was  a 
sufficient  guaranty  against  any  misconduct  on  his 
part,  but  the  men  who  knew  him  were  not  content 
even  with  this,  but  demanded  further  surety,  a sad 
commentary  on  their  confidence  in  the  man  they 
had  upheld  for  nearly  half  a century. 

In  King  Philip’s  war  a few  Nipmuck  tribes  and 
the  Podunks  joined  King  Philip;  the  other  tribes  of 
Connecticut  remained  neutral,  except  the  western 
Niantics  who  seem  to  have  come  under  the  domi- 
nation of  Uncas  upon  the  passing  of  the  control  of 
the  nation  from  Sassacus  to  him. 

The  Niantics,  who  have  been  frequently  referred 
to  in  this  and  in  preceding  chapters,  appear  to  have 
been  a tribe  of  the  old  Mohican  federation,  into 
which  the  Pequot  invasion  drove  a wedge,  forcing  a 
part  of  them  to  the  west  and  a part  to  the  east,  by 
reason  of  which  they  are  sometimes  referred  to  as 
the  Eastern  Niantics  and  the  Western  Niantics, 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  231 

and  I have  followed  this  classification  in  this  chap- 
ter. I have  referred  to  the  location  of  the  two 
branches.  The  western  group  seem  to  have  been 
under  complete  domination  of  the  Pequots  and  later 
of  the  Mohicans,  and  play  no  particular  part  in 
the  early  struggles  between  the  various  tribes  or 
between  them  and  the  whites.  That  their  sym- 
pathies were  with  Sassacus,  and  that  they  held  a 
fort  as  a sort  of  second  line  of  defence  in  the  Pequot 
war  seems  fairly  well  established,  and  that  they 
followed  Uncas  in  the  final  struggle  of  the  red  and 
white  races  for  the  control  of  southern  New  Eng- 
land is  certain.  The  Eastern  Niantics  maintained 
an  independent  position  east  of  the  Paucatuc,  al- 
though under  the  protection  of  the  Narragansetts, 
with  whom  they  were  so  closely  allied  that  some 
writers  speak  of  them  as  Narragansetts.  Their  his- 
tory is  so  mingled  with  that  of  the  Narragansetts, 
Pequots  and  Mohicans  and  their  activities  have 
been  so  often  referred  to  in  these  connections  that 
they  do  not  call  for  further  comment  here,  except  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  under  their  old 
sachem  Ninigret,  who  had  caused  a vast  amount  of 
trouble  up  to  1654,  they  joined  the  whites  against 
their  race  in  the  last  great  attempt  to  shake  off  the 
ever  increasing  fetters  which  the  men  they  had 
befriended  were  constantly  forging  for  their  feet. 
In  this  war  Ninigret’s  daughter  Magnus,  the  “Old 
Queen  of  the  Narragansetts,”  who  was  then  the 
widow  of  Miantonomo’s  brother,  followed  the  for- 
tunes of  King  Philip. 

Ninigret  was  a shrewd  old  observer  of  events, 


232 


MASSASOIT 


and  perhaps  foresaw  the  outcome  of  the  struggle 
and  the  futility  of  throwing  his  warriors  into  the 
“deadly  breach”  against  the  whites,  and  hoped  to 
secure  for  his  people  some  favorable  consideration 
at  the  hands  of  the  men  whose  progress  he  saw  no 
chance  of  stopping.  He  fell  into  complete  disfavor 
with  the  whites  in  1654,  and  his  power  was  broken, 
and  with  it  no  doubt  his  spirit.  That  his  hope  of 
perpetuating  his  race  by  aiding  the  English,  like 
Uncas’  dream  of  an  Indian  Empire  within  or  beside 
a white,  was  without  foundation,  appeared  in  the  se- 
quel, for  friend  and  foe  have  alike  been  swept  away. 

Uncas  died  in  1682  or  1683,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Oweneco,  sometimes  written  Oneco,  who 
was  the  war  chief  of  the  nation  during  the  war. 
Oneco’s  son  Caesar  succeeded  him,  and  upon  the 
death  of  Caesar,  Uncas’  youngest  son  Ben  seized 
upon  the  chieftaincy,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Ben,  the  last  of  the  Mohican  sachems.  So  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  second  generation  after  Uncas 
saw  his  race  despoiled  of  all  the  prerogatives  of 
royalty,  if,  indeed,  he  and  his  descendants  from  the 
time  he  first  began  to  run  to  the  English  with  his 
complaints  were  anything  more  than  mere  tools  in 
their  hands  to  preserve  order,  or  assist  them  in  pre- 
serving order,  among  the  Indians  for  the  English- 
men’s own  ends. 

The  first  Ben  Uncas,  according  to  his  father’s  own 
statement,  was  illegitimate,  Uncas  saying  of  him 
that  he  was  half  dog,  the  mother  being  a poor 
beggarly  squaw,  not  his  wife.  It  was  generally 
understood,  however,  both  among  the  English  and 


PEQUOTS,  MOHICANS  AND  OTHER  TRIBES  233 

Indians,  that  Ben’s  mother  was  a daughter  of 
Foxon,  Uncas’  Chief  Counsellor. 

Two  hundred  years  after  Uncas  began  his  plot- 
ting to  establish  a great  Mohican  nation,  with  him- 
self as  its  ruler,  all  that  remained  of  his  dreams  was 
a reservation  of  twenty-three  hundred  acres,  four 
hundred  and  sixty  of  which  were  actually  culti- 
vated by  about  sixty  descendants  of  the  warriors 
who,  under  the  leadership  of  Oweneco,  aided  the 
whites  in  their  work  of  exterminating  their  own 
race.  About  an  equal  number  was  then  scattered 
to  all  the  points  of  the  compass,  and  of  all  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty  or  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  not  more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  were  of 
pure  Mohican  blood.  One  of  these  one  hundred  and 
twenty  or  twenty-five  was  Esther  Cooper,  a lineal 
descendant  of  Uncas,  and  so  far  as  known  the  last 
of  his  race.  This  refers  to  1849,  and  the  figures  are 
taken  from  DeForest’s  History  of  the  Connecticut 
Indians. 

Thus  faded  the  dream  of  the  ambitious,  unscru- 
pulous, lying  and  treacherous  Uncas,  who  sought  by 
subterfuge  and  treachery  to  grasp  the  sceptre  of 
Empire  from  all  the  New  England  Indians,  and 
died,  as  he  lived,  despised  by  the  men  for  whose 
favor  he  sold  his  birthright  and  betrayed  his  coun- 
trymen. If  Indian  character  depended  upon  him 
and  such  as  he,  we  would  have  no  difficulty  in  agree- 
ing with  the  appraisals  usually  made  of  it,  but,  for- 
tunately for  the  memory  of  the  race,  it  has  produced 
not  only  an  Uncas,  but  a Massasoit,  a Miantonomo 
and  a Pometacom,  whose  heroic  deeds  save  it  from 
oblivion,  or  disgrace. 


XI 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS 

THREE  histories  of  King  Philip’s  war  were 
written  by  men  who  lived  through  that  peril- 
ous period,  and  who  ought,  therefore,  to  know 
whereof  they  write.  The  first  of  these  to  make  its 
appearance  was  by  Rev.  William  Hubbard  of  Con- 
necticut, and  was  published  immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  war;  the  second  was  by  Rev.  Increase 
Mather  of  Massachusetts,  and  consisted  principally 
of  a repetition  of  what  Hubbard  had  written  with- 
out giving  any  credit  to  the  earlier  writer.  This 
work  appeared  in  1676  and  is  entitled  Magnolia. 
Just  what  the  author  means  by  the  title  is  not 
quite  clear;  but  if  the  first  part  of  it  is  from  the 
Latin  Magnus  (great),  it  is  most  appropriately 
named,  for  of  all  the  colossal  monuments  to  cant 
and  bigotry  erected  in  an  age  when  cant  and  bigotry 
seemed  to  count  for  religious  fervor,  this  is  easily 
Magnolia,  the  greatest  of  them  all.  The  third 
was  written  by  Thomas  Church,  a son  of  Captain 
Benjamin  Church,  at  his  dictation,  and  from  notes 
made,  as  he  says,  at  the  time.  This  was  published 
in  1716,  and  ran  through  several  editions.  Captain 
Church  was  in  a position  to  know  as  much  about  the 
war  as  any  man  of  that  time,  and,  consequently  in  a 
234 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  235 


position  to  know  more  than  any  man  of  other 
times.  The  principal  difficulty  with  his  work  is  the 
air  of  braggadocio  running  through  it,  the  tendency 
to  exaggerate  the  ego.  In  fact,  the  entire  work 
reads  more  like  the  boasting  of  his  prowess  by  an 
old  man  than  an  attempt  to  set  down  historical 
facts  with  an  eye  single  to  absolute  accuracy,  and 
justice  to  the  character  of  his  opponents.  While 
we  are  obliged  to  resort,  in  a large  measure,  to  these 
three  works  for  our  facts,  the  beauty  of  all  of  them 
is  sadly  marred,  the  first  two  by  the  narrowness 
and  spleen  of  the  writers,  and  the  last  by  the  spirit 
of  self-aggrandizement  that  permeates  it.  But  we 
are  not  left  entirely  to  the  accuracy  and  judgment  of 
these  three  men.  Fortunately  for  the  memory  of 
the  Indians,  another  contemporary  writer,  before 
the  conclusion  of  the  war,  set  down  some  observa- 
tions of  his  own,  without  spleen  or  prejudice,  and 
without  boasting.  John  Easton  came  to  New  Eng- 
land in  1634,  and  settled  at  Ipswich  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony.  Being  a Quaker,  he  was 
soon  forced  to  flee  to  Rhode  Island  to  escape  the 
penalties  imposed  by  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts 
upon  men  who  did  their  own  thinking  in  religious 
matters,  and  whose  thoughts  did  not  coincide  with 
those  laid  down  by  the  men  in  authority,  who  as- 
sumed the  prerogative  of  thinking  for  others  as 
well  as  for  themselves.  Pie  settled  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  in  1638,  and  very  soon  arose  to  promi- 
nence, being  governor’s  assistant  in  1640  and  1643, 
and  from  1650  to  1652;  and  in  1654,  he  was  presi- 
dent under  the  first  colonial  charter,  and  governor 


236 


MASSASOIT 


of  Rhode  Island  from  1672  to  1674.  In  speaking  of 
him  as  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  the  latter  must 
not  be  confused  with  the  Providence  Plantations  of 
Roger  Williams,  as  Rhode  Island  in  those  days 
meant  the  Indian  island  of  Aquidnick,  the  Rhode  or 
Red  Island  of  the  English. 

Governor  Easton  died  before  the  war  was  con- 
cluded, but  not  without  having  written  down  some 
facts  which  it  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  that  period;  and  which  so  in- 
censed the  Reverend  Increase  Mather  that  he  tells 
us  he  hastened  his  work  on  account  of  it,  apparently 
fearing  that  the  truth  would  not  reflect  any  partic- 
ular credit  upon  the  English  at  Plymouth;  and  so 
must  be  completely  buried  in  a mass  of  misrepre- 
sentation, cant  and  bigotry.  Unfortunately  for 
himself  and  his  so-called  history,  he  manifests  so 
much  spleen  throughout  the  work  that  the  careful 
reader  sees  in  it,  not  the  righteous  indignation  of 
one  who  is  unjustly  accused,  but  the  boiling  rage  of 
the  criminal  who  is  caught  with  the  goods  in  his 
possession. 

Governor  Easton’s  history  contains  some  informa- 
tion concerning  the  complaints  of  the  Indians  as  re- 
lated by  themselves  that  throw  such  an  interesting 
side  light  upon  the  beginning  of  King  Philip’s  war 
that  I am  constrained  to  quote  from  it  at  length, 
simply  changing  the  quaint  spelling  and  applying 
modern  rules  of  punctuation,  to  make  the  whole 
more  easily  intelligible.  He  says:  “But  for  four 
years’  time,  reports  and  jealousies  of  war  had  been 
very  frequent.  Yet  we  did  not  think  that  now  the 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  237 


war  was  breaking  forth;  but  about  a week  before  it 
did,  we  had  cause  to  think  it  would.  Then,  to  en- 
deavor to  prevent  it,  we  sent  a man  to  Philip  that, 
if  he  would  come  to  the  ferry,  we  would  come  over 
to  speak  with  him.  About  four  miles  we  had  to 
come;  thither  our  messenger  come  to  them;  they, 
not  aware  of  it,  behaved  themselves  as  furious,  but 
suddenly  appeased  when  they  understood  who  he 
was  and  what  he  came  for;  he  called  his  council  and 
agreed  to  come  to  us;  came  himself  unarmed  and 
about  forty  of  his  men,  armed.  Then  five  of  us 
went  over;  three  were  magistrates.  We  sat  very 
friendly  together.  We  told  him  our  business,  so  to 
endeavor  that  they  might  not  receive  or  do  wrong. 
They  said  that  was  well;  they  had  done  no  wrong, 
the  English  had  wronged  them.  We  said  we  knew 
the  English  said  the  Indians  wronged  them,  and  the 
Indians  said  the  English  wronged  them,  but  our 
desire  was  the  quarrel  might  rightly  be  decided  in 
the  best  way,  and  not  as  dogs  decided  their  quarrels. 
The  Indians  owned  that  fighting  was  the  worst  way; 
they  then  propounded  how  right  might  take  place. 
We  said  by  arbitration.  They  said  that  all  English 
agreed  against  them,  and  so  by  arbitration  they  had 
much  wrong;  many  miles  square  of  land  was  taken 
from  them,  for  the  English  would  have  English 
arbitrators;  and  unless  they  were  persuaded  to 
give  in  their  arms,  that  thereby  jealousy  might  be 
removed;  and  the  English,  having  their  arms, 
would  not  deliver  them  as  they  had  promised  un- 
til they  consented  to  pay  one  hundred  pounds;  and 
now  they  had  not  so  much  sum  or  money;  they 


238 


MASSASOIT 


were  as  good  be  killed  as  leave  all  their  livelihood. 
We  said  they  might  choose  a Indian  king,  and  the 
English  might  choose  the  Governor  of  New  York, 
that  neither  had  case  to  say  either  were  parties  in 
the  difference.  They  said  they  had  not  heard  of 
that  way  and  said  we  honestly  spoke;  so  that  we 
were  persuaded,  if  that  way  had  been  tendered,  they 
would  have  accepted.  We  did  endeavor  not  to  hear 
their  complaints,  said  it  was  not  convenient  for  us 
now  to  consider  of,  but  to  endeavor  to  prevent 
war.  . . . We  knew  what  their  complaints  would 
be;  and,  in  our  colony,  had  removed  some  of  them 
in  sending  for  Indian  rulers  in  what  the  crime  con- 
cerned Indians  lives,  which  they  very  lovingly  ac- 
cepted, and  agreed  to  their  execution,  and  said  so 
they  were  able  to  satisfy  their  subjects  when  they 
knew  an  Indian  suffered  duly;  but  said  in  what 
was  only  between  their  Indians,  and  not  any  town- 
ships that  we  purchased,  they  would  not  have  us 
prosecute,  and  that  they  had  a great  fear  to  have 
any  of  their  Indians  should  be  called  or  forced  to 
be  Christian  Indians.  They  said  that  such  were  in 
everything  more  mischievous,  only  dissemblers,  and 
then  the  English  made  them  insubject  to  their  kings 
and  by  their  lying  wronged  their  king.  We  knew  it 
to  be  true.  . . . But  Philip  judged  it  to  be  dis- 
honesty in  us  to  put  off  the  hearing  any  just  com- 
plaint; therefore  we  consented  to  hear  them.  They 
said  they  had  been  the  first  in  doing  good  to  the 
English  and  the  English  the  first  in  doing  wrong; 
said  when  the  English  first  came,  their  king’s  father 
was  as  a great  man  and  the  English  as  a little  child; 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  239 

he  constrained  other  Indians  from  wronging  the 
English,  gave  them  corn  and  showed  them  how  to 
plant;  and  was  free  to  do  them  any  good,  and  had 
let  them  have  a hundred  times  more  land  then  now 
the  king  had  for  his  own  people.  But  their  king’s 
brother,  when  he  was  king,  came  miserably  to  die, 
being  forced  to  court,  as  they  judged,  poisoned. 
And  another  grievance  was,  if  twenty  of  their 
honest  Indians  testified  that  an  Englishman  had 
done  them  wrong,  it  was  as  nothing;  but  if  but  one 
of  their  worst  Indians  testified  against  any  Indian 
or  their  king,  when  it  pleased  the  English,  it  was 
sufficient. 

“Another  grievance  was  when  their  kings  sold 
land,  the  English  would  say  it  was  more  than  they 
agreed  to.  And  a writing  must  be  proved  against 
all  them,  and  some  of  their  kings  had  done  wrong 
to  sell  so  much.  He  loved  his  people  not;  and  some 
being  given  to  drunkenness,  the  English  made  them 
drunk  and  then  cheated  them  in  bargains;  but  no 
doubt  their  kings  were  forewarned  not  to  part  with 
their  land  for  nothing,  in  comparison  to  the  value 
thereof.  Now,  whom  the  English  have  owned  for 
king  or  queen,  they  were  disinherited,  and  make 
another  king  that  would  give  or  sell  them  these 
lands;  that  now  they  had  no  hopes  left  to  keep  any 
land. 

“ Another  grievance,  the  English  cattle  and  horses 
still  increased;  that  when  they  removed  thirty 
miles  from  where  the  English  had  anything  to  do, 
they  could  not  keep  their  corn  from  being  spoiled, 
they  never  being  used  to  fence;  and  that  when 


240 


MASSASOIT 


the  English  bought  land  of  them,  they  would  have 
kept  their  cattle  upon  their  own  land. 

“ Another  grievance,  the  Enghsh  were  so  eager  to 
sell  the  Indians  liquors  that  most  of  the  Indians 
spent  in  drunkenness  and  reneved  ^probably  reneged, 
in  the  sense  of  shifting  the  responsibility]  upon  the 
sober  Indians,  and  they  did  believe  even  did  hurt 
the  Enghsh  cattle ; but  their  king  could  not  prevent 
it. 

“We  knew  that  these  were  their  grand  complaints, 
but  we  only  endeavored  to  persuade  that  all  com- 
plaints be  righted  without  war;  but  come  for  no 
other  answer  but  that  they  had  not  heard  of  that 
way,  for  the  governor  of  York  and  an  Indian  king 
to  have  a hearing  of  it.  We  had  case  to  think,  if  it 
had  been  tendered,  it  would  have  been  accepted. 
We  endeavored  that,  however,  they  should  lay 
down  the  war,  for  the  Enghsh  were  too  strong  for 
them;  they  said  then  the  Enghsh  should  do  to 
them  as  they  did  when  they  were  too  strong  for  the 
Enghsh.  So  we  departed  without  any  discourteous- 
ness, and  suddenly  had  letter  from  Plymouth  Gov- 
ernor, they  intended  in  arms  to  conform  Philip,  but 
no  information  wThat  it  was  they  required  or  what 
terms  he  refused  to  have  their  quarrel  decided  at, 
and  in  a week’s  time  after  we  had  been  with  the 
Indians,  thus  begun.”  He  then  proceeds  to  give 
an  account  of  the  first  acts  of  hostilities,  as  related 
by  all  the  historians  of  that  date. 

The  unreliability  of  Reverend  Increase  Mather’s 
account  of  the  war  may  perhaps  be  fairly  judged 
by  his  reflection  upon  this  simple  statement  of  facts 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  241 


made  by  a man  who  had  no  occasion  or  incentive  to 
tell  anything  but  the  truth,  and  who  related  only 
his  own  experiences;  as  well  as  by  Mather’s  attempt 
to  discredit  another  narrative  of  the  war  written  as 
he  says  “by  a merchant  of  Boston,”  and  published 
in  London,  of  which  the  reverend  writer  says, 
“abounding  mistakes  therein  caused  me  to  think  it 
necessary  that  a true  history  of  this  affair  should 
be  published.”  Continuing  he  says,  “Whilst  I was 
doing  this,  there  came  to  my  hands  another  narra- 
tive of  this  war  written  by  a Quaker  in  Road  Island, 
who  pretends  to  know  the  truth  of  things,  but  that 
narrative  being  fraught  with  worst  things  than  meer 
mistakes,  I was  thereby  quickened  to  expedite  what 
I had  in  hand.”  This  undoubtedly  refers  to  Eas- 
ton’s history,  as  no  other  narrative  written  by  a 
Quaker  in  Rhode  Island  is  known  to  exist. 

Disregarding  Church’s  apparent  egotism,  which 
really  is  not  sufficient  cause  for  doubting  the  truth- 
fulness of  his  narrative,  except  perhaps,  those  por- 
tions of  it  which  refer  to  his  own  exploits,  writers 
of  later  date  have  drawn  largely  upon  his  record  of 
events  for  their  facts  concerning  the  occurrences  of 
the  war,  and,  in  a large  measure,  for  information 
about  the  Indian  chiefs  who  participated  in  it;  and 
for  the  pin-poses  of  this  work,  I will  follow  their 
example,  first  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  I do 
not  propose  to  give  even  a resume  of  the  history  of 
the  war;  but  rather  to  confine  myself  to  a brief 
consideration  of  the  causes  which  led  up  to  it,  and 
to  references  to  some  of  the  men  who  joined  with 
Philip  in  an  attempt  to  shake  off  the  shackles  which 


242 


MASSASOIT 


the  English  had  been  systematically  fastening  upon 
them  almost  from  the  moment  of  the  first  interview 
between  Massasoit  and  Governor  Carver  at  Plym- 
outh. 

I have  said  that  Major  Winslow's  forcible  arrest 
of  Wamsutta  at  Mimponset  Pond  was  the  beginning 
of  King  Philip’s  war,  and  in  a sense  this  is  true,  for, 
while  the  grievances  which  he  and  his  counsellors 
enumerated  to  Governor  Easton,  and  the  acts  of  the 
English  of  which  they  then  complained,  had  ex- 
tended over  a long  period,  this  was  the  first  open 
act  of  hostility. 

Wamsutta  had  never  subjected  himself  or  his 
people  to  the  authority  of  the  colonists,  and  was  not 
under  their  jurisdiction.  He  was  an  independent 
ruler,  bound,  it  is  true,  by  the  obligations  of  what- 
ever treaties  he  had  entered  into  with  the  whites,  as 
well  as  those  entered  into  by  his  predecessor  in  behalf 
of  his  people,  and  answerable  for  violations  of  those 
obligations,  as  one  people  or  nation  is  answerable 
to  another  under  similar  circumstances;  but  the 
Plymouth  authorities  had  no  more  right,  either 
legal  or  moral,  to  send  an  armed  force  into  his  terri- 
tory to  arrest  him  at  the  point  of  a pistol,  than  the 
duly  constituted  authorities  of  the  United  States 
would  have  to  send  an  army  into  Mexico  to  arrest 
its  president  and  bring  him  to  Washington  to  ren- 
der an  account  of  alleged  acts  in  violation  of  some 
agreement  between  the  two  countries.  Such  an  act 
would  be  an  act  of  war  in  the  latter  case,  and  it 
was  an  act  of  war  in  Wamsutta’s  case. 

If  the  English  chose  to  look  upon  his  alleged  con- 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  243 


duct  as  a cause  of  war,  and  took  this  course  of 
commencing  hostilities  “without  denouncing  any 
war,”  as  Bradford  complains  that  Miantonomo  had 
done  in  his  invasion  of  the  Mohican  territory 
eighteen  years  before,  they  have  no  reason  to  criti- 
cize the  Indians  for  treating  it  as  an  act  of  open 
hostility.  They  had  no  definite  evidence  of  any 
wrongdoing  on  the  part  of  Wamsutta.  Suspicions 
there  were,  and  suspicions  there  had  been  from  the 
very  beginning;  but  they  had  usually  turned  out 
to  be  the  product  of  the  imagination  or  the  out- 
growth of  the  machinations  of  some  wily  chief  to 
cast  suspicion  upon  some  rival  whom  he  feared,  and 
for  whose  overthrow  he  wished  to  enlist  the  assist- 
ance of  the  whites. 

There  were  rumors  that  Wamsutta  was  trying  to 
stir  up  trouble,  to  organize  a general  uprising. 
Where  the  rumors  came  from  no  one  knows,  but 
Wamsutta  is  said  to  have  attributed  it  to  some  of 
the  Narragansetts  when  Captain  Willett  went  to 
Mount  Hope  to  investigate;  yet  when  the  day 
arrived  on  which  he  was  to  attend  Court  at 
Plymouth,  he  was  visiting  in  the  Narragansett 
country.  If  any  of  the  chiefs  of  that  tribe  were 
endeavoring  to  injure  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  whites, 
he  evidently  still  retained  the  friendship  of  some  of 
them.  The  expression  “stir  up  trouble  and  organize 
a general  uprising”  is  capable  of  so  many  construc- 
tions, that  we  are  left  in  the  dark  as  to  what  he  was 
suspected  of  doing.  It  is  a sort  of  blanket  indict- 
ment calculated  to  cover  almost  anything  that  the 
English  might  consider  inimical  to  their  interests. 


244 


MASSASOIT 


If  he  went  over  to  the  Narragansett  country  to 
confer  with  the  sachems  of  that  federation  concern- 
ing the  encroachments  of  the  English,  to  talk  about 
his  grievances,  to  discuss,  in  a perfectly  proper  man- 
ner, some  method  of  seeming  concerted  action  in 
peaceably  resisting  further  encroachments,  it  would 
be  a stirring  up  of  trouble,  the  organizing  of  a 
general  uprising,  even  though  there  was  no  thought 
of  war,  because  it  might  cause  some  trouble  to  the 
English  in  their  land  grabbing  schemes.  Besides, 
there  is  not  a scrap  of  evidence  produced  to  show 
that  Wamsutta  did  even  any  of  these  things. 

The  whole  story  was  probably  without  founda- 
tion; for  had  any  such  attempt  been  made,  his 
counsellors  would  have  known  of  it;  and,  being 
privy  to  it,  and  in  close  touch  with  his  negotiations 
and  arrangements,  his  arrest  and  death  under  such 
circumstances  as  surrounded  them,  circumstances 
that  led  his  people  to  believe  that  he  had  been 
poisoned,  as  they  claimed  thirteen  years  later,  was 
all  that  was  needed  to  kindle  the  spark  he  is  charged 
with  having  laid,  into  flame. 

Notwithstanding  this  attack  upon  the  person  of 
his  brother  and  upon  the  sovereignty  of  his  people, 
Pometacom,  or  King  Philip,  seems  at  first  to  have 
been  desirous  of  continuing  the  friendly  relations 
with  the  whites  that  had  marked  the  forty  years  of 
his  father’s  reign  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty 
with  Governor  Carver.  Within  a very  few  months 
of  his  succession  to  the  great  chieftaincy,  he  re- 
newed the  covenant  which  Massasoit  had  made 
with  the  colonists;  and  in  the  winter  of  1663-64 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  245 


he  sent  to  John  Eliot  for  “books  to  learn  to  read 
and  to  pray  unto  God.”  What  an  opportunity  was 
thus  presented  to  the  English  to  perpetuate  the 
bonds  of  friendship  that  had  existed  between  them 
and  the  Wampanoags  from  the  beginning!  Oh,  for 
the  hand  of  a Roger  Williams  or  the  Quaker  Gov- 
ernor of  Rhode  Island  at  the  helm  for  an  hour  at 
that  time!  The  history  of  King  Philip’s  war  would 
never  have  been  written  if  the  Massachusetts 
colonies  had  adopted  the  Rhode  Island  and  Provi- 
dence method  of  dealing  with  the  natives. 

Many  causes  have  been  assigned  for  the  outbreak 
that  finally  came,  of  which  the  one  most  frequently 
mentioned  is  the  land  question;  and  while  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  the  natives  saw  with  alarm 
their  forests  cut  down,  their  hunting  grounds  given 
over  to  the  plow  and  to  the  pasturage  of  roving 
herds  of  cattle,  and  themselves  constantly  restricted 
to  narrower  and  narrower  limits,  this  was  only  one 
of  the  many  causes  as  fully  appears  from  the  com- 
plaint which  Philip  presented  to  Governor  Easton. 
The  colonists  say  they  never  took  an  acre  of  the 
Indians’  land  except  by  purchase,  and  if  taking 
advantage  of  the  Indians’  simplicity  and  lack  of  ap- 
preciation of  the  effect  of  their  acts  to  secure  a 
township  for  a red  coat,  a county  for  thirty-five 
pounds,  can  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  purchase, 
their  claim  is  well  founded.  At  the  prices  they 
paid,  the  five  hundred  and  forty  pounds  received 
by  Hunt  for  the  twenty-seven  natives  carried  away 
from  Plymouth  in  1614  would  have  purchased  the 
whole  of  Massachusetts.  The  Indians  had  been 


246 


MASSASOIT 


crowded  to  the  limit.  Their  sachems  had  improvi- 
dently  parted  with  the  land  which  was  a necessity 
to  the  continued  existence  of  their  people,  and 
there  had  resulted  disputes  as  to  what  was  sold, 
and  “a  writing  must  be  proved  against  all  them,”  a 
paper  prepared  by  whom?  and  understood  by  whom? 
Not  satisfied  with  thus  driving  sharp  and  unscru- 
pulous bargains  until  only  a small  portion  of  the 
land  where  they  had  formerly  roamed  and  hunted  at 
will  remained  to  the  Indians,  the  whites,  still  covet- 
ing the  few  acres  that  were  left  to  them,  continued 
their  acts  of  depredation  until,  goaded  to  despera- 
tion, with  justice  denied  him,  with  his  sovereign 
rights  invaded,  with  no  alternative  left  to  him  but 
to  die  a death  of  slow  starvation,  or  the  glorious 
death  of  a warrior  fighting  for  his  home  and  patri- 
mony, the  red  man  chose  the  latter. 

The  land  difficulties  undoubtedly  first  arose  over 
the  difference  between  the  English  and  the  Indian 
tenures.  Individual  allotments  and  individual 
ownership  was  an  established  principle  of  the 
English  law,  and  while  the  colonists,  after  a while, 
forbade  the  purchase  of  land  by  individual  whites 
from  the  Indians,  except  with  the  consent  of  the 
authorities,  this  did  not  stop  the  abuses  that  had 
arisen,  for  it  does  not  appear  that  they  ever  vetoed 
a sharp  bargain  driven  by  one  of  their  people  with 
an  Indian  chief.  Opposed  to  this  idea  of  private 
ownership  was  the  Indian  tenure  by  which  the  title 
to  the  land  was  in  the  tribe,  and  the  right  to  its  use 
was  a common  right,  as  indeed  the  fruits  of  the  soil 
and  the  spoils  of  the  hunt  were  the  common  property 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  247 


of  all,  except  that  the  hunter  was  allowed  the  skins 
of  the  animals  killed  by  himself  so  far  as  the  same 
were  necessary  to  the  embellishment  and  comfort  of 
his  wigwam  and  the  clothing  of  himself  and  his  family. 

With  this  communistic  idea  thoroughly  estab- 
lished in  the  Indian  customs  and  laws,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  they  should  have  thought  that  their 
deeds  were  simply  grants  of  rights  to  occupy  in 
common  with  themselves;  and  they  discovered  the 
full  import  of  their  act  only  when  the  purchasers 
took  steps  to  dispossess  them  entirely;  and  it  was 
thus  that  the  natives  said  the  English  claimed  more 
than  they  had  granted  and  “there  must  be  a writ- 
ing,” and  when  disputes  arose  “the  English  would 
have  an  English  arbitrator,”  and  the  decision  was, 
of  course,  always  against  the  Indian. 

The  course  pursued  by  the  English  in  their  deal- 
ings with  the  natives,  coupled  with  the  lack  of  skill 
in  driving  bargains  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  who 
were  induced  in  some  way  to  put  their  marks  to 
papers  the  true  import  of  which  they  no  more 
understood  than  they  did  the  mystery  of  their 
existence  and  the  wonders  of  nature,  for  a bauble 
which  was  soon  gone,  was  gradually  reducing  them 
to  a virtual  state  of  vassalage  to  the  men  whom 
they  had  welcomed,  and  with  whom  they  were 
willing  to  share  their  possessions,  but  who  were  not 
satisfied  to  share,  and  seized  upon  every  oppor- 
tunity to  grasp  the  whole.  In  fact,  their  treatment 
of  Wamsutta  is  evidence  that  the  English  had  al- 
ready assumed  the  authority  to  look  upon  them  as 
vassals. 


248 


MASSASOIT 


When  a proud  and  independent  people  awake  to 
the  fact  that  this  is  their  fate,  but  two  courses  are 
open  to  them,  either  complete  submission  by  active 
consent  or  by  silent  acquiescence;  or  armed  resist- 
ance. The  Mohicans,  Pequots  and  Niantics  chose 
submission  by  active  consent,  the  other  Connecti- 
cut Indians,  except  the  Podunks  and  a few  Nip- 
mucks,  submission  by  tacit  non-resistance;  and  the 
Wampanoags,  the  Narragansetts,  the  Podunks  and 
most  of  the  Nipmucks  in  Massachusetts  and  the 
few  mentioned  in  Connecticut,  chose  armed  resist- 
ance; and  all  met  the  same  fate.  The  resisting 
warriors  merely  hastened  theirs,  preferring  the  death 
of  warriors  amid  the  shouts  of  battle  in  the  deadly 
breach,  to  the  death  by  slow  starvation  with  their 
livelihood  gone,  or  the  living  death  of  vassalage. 
Annihilation  was  the  doom  that  was  written  for 
them  in  every  scrap  of  paper  to  which  they  put 
their  marks.  Native  simplicity,  relying  upon  the 
native  code  of  honor  and  native  customs,  could  not 
stand  before  European  greed.  What  seemed  to 
Massasoit  and  to  others  following  in  his  footsteps 
to  be  the  path  of  wisdom,  viewed  in  the  light  he 
possessed,  turned  out  to  be  the  path  of  destruction 
for  his  people.  The  burning  embers  from  the 
peace  pipe  he  extended  to  the  first  settlers  kindled 
into  a flame  that  enveloped  and  wiped  out  his  race. 

So  while  the  act  of  Major  Winslow  was  the  first 
overt  act  in  the  great  war,  the  causes  that  led  up 
to  it  had  existed  for  a long  time,  reaching  back  at 
least  to  the  unjustified  murder  of  Miantonomo  in 
1643,  an  act  which  was  undoubtedly  an  important 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  249 


factor  in  deciding  the  course  of  the  Narragansetts; 
but  while  the  acts  of  which  the  Indians  complained 
had  continued  over  a long  period,  it  apparently 
took  the  simple  natives  a long  time  to  grasp  their 
full  import,  and  still  Philip  was  willing  to  continue 
the  chain  of  friendship  until  he  became  convinced, 
by  fresh  encroachments  and  continued  acts  of  ag- 
gression and  abuse,  that  the  two  races  with  their 
different  customs  of  living  and  different  codes  of 
honor  could  not  coexist  on  the  same  soil.  Then 
resulted  the  war  of  extermination  for  one  or  the 
other. 

That  this  war  was  not  necessary  we  now  know; 
that  all  that  was  required  to  prevent  it  was  fair  play 
and  simple  justice  on  the  part  of  the  whites,  no  one 
who  reads  the  history  of  those  times  without  pas- 
sion or  prejudice  will  attempt  to  gainsay.  The 
issue  of  the  war  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
ideals  of  government  and  the  freedom  we  cherish, 
but  the  same  results  might  have  been  secured  with- 
out the  stain  upon  the  white  man’s  escutcheon  that 
time  can  never  efface. 

In  justice  to  the  colonial  authorities  it  ought  to 
be  said  that  not  all  the  acts  complained  of  should 
be  laid  directly  at  their  doors;  but  while  un- 
doubtedly many  of  them  were  committed  without 
authority,  and  not  in  pursuit  of  any  general  policy, 
the  commissioners  and  magistrates  cannot  fully  es- 
cape the  responsibility  for  them,  because  when 
offences  against  the  Indians  were  called  to  their 
attention  they  did  nothing  to  correct  the  abuses. 
That  they  had  no  confidence  in  some  of  their  own 


250 


MASSASOIT 


people  in  their  dealings  with  the  natives  is  clearly 
shown  by  a letter  written  to  Governor  Bradford  by 
Robert  Cushman  as  early  as  1623,  in  which  the 
writer  says:  “In  the  mean  space  know  these  things, 
and  I pray  you  be  advised  a little.  Mr.  Weston 
hath  quite  broken  off  from  our  company  through 
some  discontents  that  arose  betwixt  him  and  some 
of  our  adventurers,  and  hath  sould  all  his  adven- 
tures, and  hath  now  sent  three  smale  ships  for  his 
particular  plantation.  The  greatest  whereof  being 
100  tun.  Mr.  Reynolds  goeth  and  he  with  the 
rest  purposeth  to  come  himselfe,  for  what  end  I 
know  not. 

“The  people  which  they  cary  are  no  men  for  us, 
wherefore  I pray  you  entertaine  them  not,  neither 
exchange  man  for  man  with  them  excepte  it  be  some 
of  your  worst.  He  hath  taken  a patent  for  himselfe. 
If  they  offer  to  buy  anything  of  you  let  it  be  such 
as  you  can  spare,  and  let  them  give  the  worth  of  it. 
If  they  borrow  anything  leave  a good  pawne.  . . . 
I fear  these  people  will  not  deal  so  well  with  the 
savages  as  they  should.  I pray  you  therefore  sig- 
nifie  to  Squanto,  that  they  are  a distinct  body  from 
us,  and  we  have  nothing  to  doe  with  them,  neither 
can  we  be  blamed  for  their  faults,  much  less  can 
we  warrante  their  fidelity.” 

This  was  the  same  Weston  who  in  1622  had  estab- 
lished a small  colony  at  Wessagusset,  where  he  had 
dealt  so  unfairly  with  the  Indians  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts federation  that  they  had  planned  the  up- 
rising of  which  Massasoit  apprised  Winslow  in 
March,  1623,  and  in  which  they  had  secured  the 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  251 


cooperation  of  several  tribes  of  the  Wampanoag 
federation,  and  interested  some  one  of  Massasoit’s 
sub-sachems  to  the  extent  that  he  had  endeavored 
to  secure  his  Great  Sachem’s  consent  to  active  par- 
ticipation in  the  uprising.  It  was  Weston’s  con- 
duct on  this  occasion  which  was  responsible  for  the 
contemplated  attack  upon  both  Wessagusset  and 
Plymouth,  the  natives  not  discriminating  between 
them,  but,  aroused  by  Weston’s  outrages,  resolved 
to  wipe  out  the  entire  white  race  in  New  England; 
and  it  is  characteristic  of  the  methods  employed  by 
the  colonists  to  settle  such  difficulties  that  they  sent 
Captain  Standish  to  punish  the  Indians  who  were 
concerned  in  the  revolt,  which  he  did;  but  did  noth- 
ing to  prevent  a repetition  of  the  depredations  of 
Weston  who  had  precipitated  the  trouble. 

It  was  unquestionably  the  unscrupulous  dealings 
of  men  like  these,  covering  nearly  half  a century, 
that  led  to  many  of  the  complaints;  but  if  the  au- 
thorities had  shown  half  the  zeal  in  preventing 
their  acts  and  punishing  the  offenders  that  they  did 
in  correcting  abuses  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  the 
grievances  could  easily  have  been  adjusted. 

While  Philip  was  under  suspicion  immediately 
after  Wamsutta’s  death,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
authorities  had  any  foundation  for  the  suspicion 
outside  of  their  own  knowledge  of  wrongdoing  on 
their  part  and  a belief  that  Philip  might  avenge 
the  wrongs  to  his  brother  and  his  people.  It  looks 
like  a case  of  troubled  conscience,  resembling  that 
of  the  small  boy  who  has  been  guilty  of  some  infrac- 
tion of  parental  discipline,  and,  being  out  alone 


252 


MASSASOIT 


after  dark,  sees  lurking  in  every  shadow  some  fear- 
ful agency  for  the  punishment  of  his  misdeeds. 

Morton  tells  us  “Metacom  made  his  appearance 
at  the  court  held  at  Plymouth,  August  6th  (1662), 
did  earnestly  desire  the  continuance  of  that  amity 
and  friendship  that  hath  formerly  been  between  the 
governor  of  Plymouth  and  his  deceased  father  and 
brother.”  The  court  thereupon  presented  articles 
of  agreement  which  he  and  his  uncle  Vucumpowet 
(Akkompoin)  signed. 

From  that  time  until  1671,  Philip  made  many 
concessions  by  way  of  land  grants  that  are  inex- 
plicable on  any  other  theory  than  that  he  was 
willing  to  pay  any  price  for  peace.  He  sold  parts 
of  Swansea  in  1668  and  1669,  and  all  this  time  he 
and  his  people  were  complaining  of  their  restricted 
areas.  Enough  is  known  of  his  character  to  lead  to 
the  conclusion  that  these  sales  were  virtually  forced 
by  fear  of  further  acts  of  vindictive  depredation  and 
injustice  which  he  had  learned  to  appreciate  as  the 
Englishman’s  method  of  securing  what  he  desired, 
or  in  the  belief  that  the  insatiable  greed  of  the 
English  for  land  might  be  finally  appeased  with- 
out crowding  his  own  people  completely  off  the 
earth. 

In  1671  there  were  further  misunderstandings 
which  were  adjusted,  but  from  that  time  on,  Philip 
was  constantly  under  a cloud  of  suspicion.  About 
this  same  time,  there  were  rumors  of  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Narragansetts,  the  young  sachems  being 
said  to  favor  war,  but  the  older  ones  counseling 
peace,  though  the  commissioners  seemed  to  think 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  253 

that  the  latter  were  dissembling,  and  really  favored 
the  resort  to  arms.  If  Philip  was  actually  engaged 
in  an  attempt  to  arouse  the  Indians  to  open  revolt 
at  that  time,  he  so  adroitly  baffled  their  efforts  to 
secure  evidence  against  him  that  some  historians 
say  there  isn’t  a particle  of  evidence  that  he  ever 
actually  engaged  the  cooperation  of  any  other 
tribe. 

Matters  ran  along  in  this  way  until  the  winter  of 
1674,  when  John  Sassamon,  a Massachusetts  In- 
dian, who  had  been  educated  at  Harvard  and  was 
an  itinerant  preacher  among  the  Indians,  revealed 
Philip’s  plottings  to  the  Plymouth  authorities.  He 
had  been  employed  by  Philip  as  a secretary,  and  in 
this  way  claimed  to  have  seemed  his  information. 
Knowledge  of  Sassamon’s  perfidy  reached  Philip  in 
some  way,  and  Sassamon  suddenly  disappeared,  and 
some  time  later  his  body  was  found  under  the  ice  in 
Assawamsett  Pond,  with  the  neck  broken  and  other 
indications  of  foul  play.  Three  Indians  came  under 
suspicion  and  they  were  arrested  and  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury.  They  were  subsequently  tried  by  a 
jury,  and  five  Indians  were  called  in  to  hear  the  evi- 
dence against  them;  and  these  five  concurred  in  the 
verdict.  The  three  were  hanged,  two  of  them  pro- 
testing their  innocence.  Philip  had  been  summoned 
to  Plymouth  to  testify  to  his  connection  with  the 
taking  off  of  Sassamon,  but  did  not  appear,  whether 
from  fear  of  the  consequences  or  in  defiance  of  the 
colonists’  attempts  to  subject  him  to  their  au- 
thority, we  can  only  conjecture.  In  any  event,  the 
series  of  depredations  that  led  directly  to  the  war 


254 


MASSASOIT 


began  immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  men 
who  were  charged  with  the  death  of  Sassamon. 

In  connection  with  the  trial  of  these  men  one  is 
constrained  to  inquire  under  what  authority  the 
English  assumed  jurisdiction  of  this  matter.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  Sassamon  was  subject  to  them 
or  under  their  special  protection  by  reason  of  any 
treaty  or  agreement.  The  three  men  whom  they 
tried  for  his  murder  were  Indians,  and,  if  they  be- 
longed in  the  vicinity  where  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted, were  subjects  of  the  sachem  Tuspaquin,  and 
the  offence  was  against  the  laws  of  the  territory  of 
that  chief.  It  was  by  such  acts  as  this,  the  utter 
ignoring  of  the  rights  of  the  natives  to  deal  with 
offenders  among  their  own  people  against  men  who 
were  not  subject  to  the  English,  and  on  their  own 
territory,  that  the  colonists  goaded  the  Indians  to 
war. 

Philip’s  men  limited  their  depredations  to  the 
killing  of  the  cattle  and  hogs  of  the  English  and 
carrying  away  their  property,  the  purpose  ap- 
parently being  to  drive  the  colonists  to  the  first  acts 
of  violence  against  the  person;  and  this  soon  re- 
sulted, an  Indian  being  shot  and  wounded  in  Swan- 
sea, while  committing  some  act  of  depredation;  and 
thus  the  war  begun. 

July  4,  1675,  Captains  Moseley  and  Page,  who 
were  pursuing  Philip,  received  orders  to  go  over 
into  the  Narragansett  country  and  secure  a treaty 
with  the  sachems  there;  and,  as  a result,  they  did 
succeed  in  getting  a pledge  of  assistance,  signed  by 
“ Agamand,  Wampsh,  alias  Corman,  Taitson  and 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  255 


Tawagason,  counsellors  and  attorneys  to  Canonicus 
[Pessacus],  Ninigret,  Matababug,  old  Quen  Quain- 
pen,  Quananshet  [Canonchet]  and  Pomham,  the  six 
present  sachems  of  the  whole  Narragansett  country.” 
It  is  significant  that  not  one  of  the  sachems  purports 
to  have  signed  in  person;  nor  is  there  any  evidence 
that  they  were  present,  or  that  the  signatories 
actually  had  any  authority  to  sign  for  them. 

About  this  time,  commissioners  also  attempted  to 
treat  with  the  Nipmucks  between  the  Merrimac  and 
the  Connecticut  Rivers,  but  found  the  young  men 
“surly  and  insolent,”  although  the  old  men  “showed 
an  inclination  for  peace.”  These  Nipmucks,  the 
Podunks,  who  are  said  to  have  furnished  two  hun- 
dred warriors,  the  Nashuas,  all  the  Narragansett 
sachems  except  Ninigret,  who  was  really  a Niantic, 
and  the  Wampanoags,  constituted  Philip’s  force,  the 
Narragansetts  coming  in  late  in  the  fall  of  1675. 
It  is  claimed  by  some  writers  that  they  were  under 
an  agreement  with  Philip  to  furnish  four  thousand 
warriors  for  an  uprising  in  the  spring  of  1676,  but 
the  death  of  Sassamon  and  the  execution  of  his 
alleged  murderers  hastened  the  breaking  out  of 
hostilities  to  such  an  extent  that  they  did  not  par- 
ticipate for  some  months. 

From  the  spring  of  1675  until  the  final  overthrow 
of  Philip’s  forces,  no  place  could  feel  that  it  was 
safe  from  attack.  The  towns  of  Central  Massa- 
chusetts suffered  most  severely,  the  Narragansetts 
and  Wampanoags  sweeping  up  from  their  territory 
and  joining  the  Nipmucks  and  Nashuas  in  the 
attacks. 


256 


MASSASOIT 


The  Indians  suffered  their  first  serious  defeat  in 
the  swamp  fight  at  East  Kingston,  Rhode  Island, 
December  19,  1675,  where  three  hundred  warriors 
were  killed,  according  to  information  given  by  an 
old  squaw  who  escaped  the  conflagration  caused  by 
the  English  setting  fire  to  the  wigwams,  burning 
women  and  children.  It  was  at  Lancaster  on  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1676,  that  Mary  Rowlandson,  the  minis- 
ter’s wife,  and  her  children  were  taken  in  an  attack 
upon  that  town  by  the  Wampanoags  under  Philip, 
Narragansetts  under  Quinapen  and  the  Nashuas 
and  Nipmucks  led  by  Sagamore  Sam  and  one-eyed 
John  of  the  Marlborough  “praying  Indians.”  She 
remained  a captive  for  some  time,  living  in  the  wig- 
wam of  Weetamo,  who  was  then  one  of  the  squaws 
of  Quinapen;  and  on  one  occasion  dining  with 
Philip,  as  she  relates  in  her  narrative  of  her  experi- 
ences. 

Meeting  with  various  reverses,  and  losing  some  of 
their  leaders,  the  Wampanoags  and  Narragansetts 
were  finally  driven  into  the  swamps  around  Mount 
Hope  in  July,  1676.  Here  the  “Old  Queen”  was 
slain  in  that  month.  It  is  said  that  the  losses  of 
Philip  and  his  allies  amounted  to  three  thousand 
warriors  at  that  time,  but  he  made  another  attempt 
to  turn  the  tide.  On  July  30,  Governor  Winslow 
received  word  at  Marshfield  that  a strong  force  was 
on  the  march  against  Taunton  or  Bridgewater.  He 
hastened  to  Plymouth,  and  summoned  Captain 
Church,  directing  him  to  rally  his  forces  at  once. 
By  this  time  Philip,  apparently  seeing  the  futility 
of  proceeding  further,  was  withdrawing  his  men. 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  257 

It  was  on  this  retreat,  while  crossing  the  river  at 
Taunton  on  a tree  which  the  Indians  had  felled  to 
form  a bridge,  that  Akkompoin,  the  younger  brother 
of  Massasoit,  was  slain  with  several  of  his  men;  and 
Philip  himself  came  very  near  meeting  the  same 
fate,  according  to  Captain  Church,  who  says  that 
on  the  morning  following  Akkompoin’s  death,  he 
saw  an  Indian  sitting  on  a log  and  raised  his  rifle 
to  fire,  when  one  of  his  Indians  called  out  that  it 
was  a friend,  upon  which  he  lowered  his  gun;  and 
the  Indian  looked  at  them  and  fled.  It  afterwards 
turned  out  to  be  Philip  himself. 

Early  in  August  an  Indian  reported  that  Philip 
was  at  Mount  Hope  and  Church  went  after  him. 
They  came  upon  him  by  surprise,  and  Church  aimed 
at  him  but  his  gun  missed  fire,  whereupon  he  ordered 
a Seaconnet  Indian  who  was  with  him  to  shoot  him 
down.  He  obeyed,  and  Philip  fell  on  August  12, 
1676,  shot  through  the  heart  by  one  of  his  own 
people  named  by  the  English,  John  Alderman. 

His  force  was  by  this  time  completely  shattered, 
many  of  his  sachems  having  fallen  and  others  hav- 
ing come  in  on  promises  of  clemency  only  to  learn 
that  clemency  meant  either  death  or  slavery  as  best 
suited  the  English.  Some  of  the  Nipmucks  fled  to 
the  west,  where  they  were  undoubtedly  absorbed  by 
other  tribes;  and  it  is  said  that  a remnant  of  the 
Wampanoags  escaped  into  Maine  where  they  be- 
came merged  with  the  Penobscots. 

After  Philip’s  death  Church  declared  that  inas- 
much as  he  had  caused  many  Englishmen  to  remain 
unburied,  no  part  of  him  should  have  burial.  An 


258 


MASSASOIT 


Indian  was  summoned  who  was  directed  to  cut  off 
the  head  and  quarter  the  body.  The  head  was  sent 
to  Plymouth  where  it  was  exposed  upon  a pole  for 
more  than  a score  of  years.  His  hands  were  sent 
to  Boston,  and  his  quartered  body  was  hung  up  in 
the  trees  where  he  fell.  Church  and  his  men  re- 
turned to  Plymouth  “and  received  their  premium, 
which  was  thirty  shillings  per  head  for  the  enemies 
which  they  had  killed  or  taken,  instead  of  wages. 
Philip’s  head  went  at  the  same  price,”  according  to 
Captain  Church. 

The  Plymouth  clergy  celebrated  his  death  with 
the  same  blasphemous  utterances  in  which  they 
were  wont  to  give  vent  to  their  spleen  upon  such 
occasions.  The  Rev.  Increase  Mather  says:  “There 
was  he,  like  as  Agag  was  hewed  in  pieces  before  the 
Lord,  cut  into  four  quarters,  and  is  now  hung  up 
as  a monument  of  revenging  justice,  his  head  being 
cut  off  and  carried  to  Plymouth.  So  let  all  thine 
enemies  perish,  O Lord!  Thus  did  God  break  the 
head  of  that  Leviathan  and  give  it  to  be  meat  of 
the  people  inheriting  the  wilderness.” 

The  authorities  at  Plymouth  had  appointed  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  for  their  success.  Philip’s  head 
reached  the  town  that  day.  Rev.  Cotton  Mather 
says,  “God  sent  ’em  in  the  head  of  a Leviathan  for 
a thanksgiving  feast.” 

So  perished  the  last  of  the  Great  Chiefs  of  New 
England  to  make  a stand  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  deadly  enemies  of  his  people.  Of  his 
character  much  has  been  written,  and  the  net  result 
of  it  all  is  that  we  know  almost  nothing  concerning 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  259 


it.  Church  says  he  was  always  the  first  in  flight, 
but  then  proceeds  to  give  the  he  to  the  statement 
by  saying  he  was  seen  sitting  on  a log  at  Taunton 
River  the  morning  after  his  uncle  and  some  of  his 
men  were  killed.  Some  writers  claim  that  he  pos- 
sessed no  particular  skill  as  an  organizer,  and 
lacked  the  native  eloquence  with  which  some  of  the 
children  of  the  forest  roused  their  followers  to 
frenzy;  while  others  rank  him  as  a person  of  great 
powers  of  body  and  mind,  capable  of  stirring  men 
to  action  and  not  hesitating  to  risk  his  own  life  in 
leading  his  men  against  the  foe.  The  reader  is  at 
liberty  to  take  his  choice;  but  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  suggest  that  such  a revolt  as  he  is  credited  in  his- 
tory with  having  led  does  not  arise  spontaneously, 
nor  can  it  be  aroused  by  a man  lacking  in  personal 
magnetism,  persuasive  oratory  and  physical  prowess. 
Was  he  a blood-thirsty  savage  bent  on  destruction 
of  the  whites  without  cause;  or  was  he  a true 
patriot  contending  for  all  that  life  holds  dear,  and 
sacrificing  his  own  life  to  the  ideals  of  his  race, 
freedom,  home  and  the  defence  of  his  fatherland? 
Undoubtedly  most  men  who  have  read  history  have 
already  drawn  their  conclusions,  and  no  word  of 
mine  is  likely  to  cause  them  to  change  their  minds; 
but  before  consigning  his  name  to  eternal  infamy, 
let  us  look  carefully  to  the  conditions  surrounding 
him,  to  the  grievances  of  his  people,  and  then  let  us 
ask  ourselves  what  we  would  have  done  had  we 
been  in  his  place.  What  have  men  of  all  races  and 
of  all  time  done  under  similar  circumstances?  and 
what  appraisal  do  we  place  upon  their  character? 


260 


MASSASOIT 


Is  there  any  reason  why  we  should  not  place  Philip 
of  Pokanoket  in  the  class  with  other  men  who 
have  made  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  same  ideals? 

Philip  married  Wootonekanuske,  a sister  of  Wee- 
tamo,  and  believed  to  be  a daughter  of  Corbitant 
of  the  Pocassets,  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Wam- 
panoag  federation;  and,  so  far  as  history  records, 
she  was  his  only  wife,  for  while  polygamy  seems  to 
have  been  practiced  among  the  Narragansetts  in 
some  instances,  Quinapen  being  said  by  Mrs.  Row- 
landson to  have  had  three  squaws,  there  is  nothing 
of  record  to  lead  to  any  inference  that  either  Massa- 
soit,  Wamsutta  or  Philip  had  more  than  one  wife, 
or  that  polygamy  was  ever  practiced  among  the 
Wampanoags.  By  her  he  had  two  children,  one  of 
whom  died  in  infancy,  and  the  other,  a young  boy 
at  the  time  of  his  father’s  death,  was  sold  with  his 
mother  into  slavery.  The  clergy  were  appealed  to 
by  the  authorities  for  their  opinion  as  to  what 
should  be  done  with  him,  and  these  followers  of 
Him  who  said,  “Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,”  were  in  favor  of  murdering  the  child;  but  the 
authorities  for  some  reason  reserved  him  for  a 
worse  fate  and  so  the  grandson  of  the  man  who 
had  made  their  position  secure  ended  his  life  a slave. 

Pumham  is  ranked  second  to  Philip  in  ability 
among  the  leaders  of  the  natives  in  the  uprising. 
His  name  appears  as  one  of  the  six  sachems  of  the 
Narragansett  country  in  the  treaty  which  Captains 
Moseley  and  Page  secured  from  the  counsellors  in 
July,  1675.  He  is  spoken  of  as  sachem  of  Showa- 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  261 

met,  now  Warwick,  Rhode  Island.  In  July,  1676,  he 
led  an  invasion  into  the  territory  around  Medfield 
and  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  and  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  that  month,  fifty  of  his  band  were  captured; 
but  he  refused  to  surrender  and  was  shot. 

Quest apen  was  a nephew  of  Miantonomo.  After 
Weetamo  left  her  fourth  husband  because  of  his 
adherence  to  the  English,  Quinapen,  though  much 
younger  than  she,  took  her  as  the  third  of  his  squaws. 
He  was  an  active  participant  with  his  warriors  in 
the  various  raids  by  the  Narragansetts  and  is 
known  to  have  led  them  in  the  attack  on  Lancaster 
in  February,  1676.  After  his  capture  in  August  of 
that  year,  he  told  his  captors  that  he  had  been 
second  in  command  at  the  swamp  fight  at  East 
Kingston.  He  was  shot  at  Newport  soon  after  his 
capture. 

Canonchet,  a son  of  Miantonomo,  is  referred  to 
as  the  Chief  Sachem  of  the  Narragansetts.  He  is 
said  to  have  entered  the  war  with  two  thousand 
warriors.  Whether  this  -is  intended  to  include  the 
entire  strength  of  the  Narragansetts,  all  of  them 
being  in  a sense,  under  his  command,  or  only  his 
own  immediate  followers  is  uncertain.  Early  in  the 
spring  of  1676,  he  and  King  Philip  swept  around 
Seekonk,  Massachusetts,  with  fifteen  hundred  war- 
riors, and  there  were  six  or  seven  hundred  around 
Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  at  the  same  time;  but 
this  really  throws  no  light  upon  the  question,  be- 
cause we  do  not  know  how  many  of  these  were 
Wampanoags.  Canonchet  was  in  command  at  the 
swamp  fight,  with  his  cousin  Quinapen  second. 


262 


MASSASOIT 


In  the  raid  around  Seekonk  and  Pawtucket  in 
the  spring  of  1676,  he  was  crossing  the  Blackstone 
River,  when  bis  foot  slipped,  throwing  him  into  the 
water  and  wetting  his  gun  so  that  it  became  useless. 
This  misfortune  so  disheartened  him  for  the  mo- 
ment that  he  was  easily  overtaken  by  a swift-footed 
Pequot,  who  was  with  a pursuing  party  of  whites 
and  Indians.  After  his  capture,  the  first  English- 
man to  approach  him  presented  a very  youthful 
appearance.  When  this  young  man  attempted  to 
interrogate  him,  he  replied,  “You  much  child.  No 
understand  matters  of  war.  Let  your  brother  or 
your  chief  come.  Him  I will  answer.”  His  cap- 
ture occurred  on  March  27th;  and  he  was  taken  to 
Stonington,  Connecticut,  where,  after  the  mockery 
of  a trial,  he  was  first  offered  his  fife  if  he  would 
become  an  ally  of  the  English.  This  he  steadfastly 
refused,  and  when  reminded  of  “his  boast  that  he 
would  not  deliver  up  so  much  as  a paring  of  a Wam- 
panoag  nail  when  called  upon  by  the  English  to 
give  up  their  enemies,  and  hi3  threat  that  he  would 
burn  them  alive  in  their  houses,”  his  courage  re- 
mained unshaken;  and  when  told  that  his  sentence 
was  death,  he  stoically  replied  that  it  pleased  him 
well  that  he  should  die  before  his  heart  was  soft  and 
he  had  said  anything  unworthy  of  himself.  “ This,” 
says  the  devout  Hubbard,  “was  the  confusion  of  a 
damned  wretch  that  had  often  opened  his  mouth 
to  blaspheme  the  name  of  the  living  God  and  those 
that  make  profession  thereof,”  to  which  he  might 
have  truthfully  added,  but  whose  practices  did  not 
square  with  their  professions;  and  who  worshipped 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  263 

the  “living  God”  with  their  lips,  but  blasphemed 
His  name  by  their  every  act. 

The  sentence  of  the  court  was  carried  out  in  the 
manner  described  by  Hubbard  in  the  following 
words:  “And  that  all  might  share  in  the  glory  of 
destroying  so  great  a prince  and  come  under  the 
obligation  of  fidelity  to  each  other,  the  Pequots  shot 
him,  the  Mohicans  cut  off  his  head  and  quartered 
his  body,  and  the  Ninnicrafts  (a  name  apparently 
sometimes  applied  to  the  Niantics)  made  the  fire 
and  burned  his  quarters,  and  as  a token  of  their  love 
and  fidelity  to  the  English,  presented  his  head  to 
the  counsel  of  Hartford.” 

Whether  the  Pequot  traitor  to  his  native  land 
and  his  people  received  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver 
for  his  head,  or  whether  the  Connecticut  troops  and 
their  allies  were  paid  in  some  other  way,  we  are  not 
told.  He  fell  a victim  to  the  same  methods  of  deal- 
ing with  the  natives  that  had  marked  the  end  of  his 
father,  Miantonomo,  and  at  the  hands  of  the  same 
cruel  enemies  of  his  nation,  acting  as  the  agents  of 
the  real  enemies  of  them  all,  who  simply  used  the 
Mohicans  as  their  catspaws  until  such  time  as  it 
should  suit  their  purpose  to  destroy  them  by  insidi- 
ous acts  of  oppression  worse  than  war.  These  two 
men  stand,  in  unbiased  history,  with  Philip,  as 
leaders  of  their  race,  who  earnestly  desired  an  honor- 
able peace  with  the  whites;  and  who  labored  to  se- 
cure it  with  the  blessings  of  a higher  civilization  for 
their  people;  but  who  were  swallowed  up  in  the 
maelstrom  of  English  land  covetousness,  suspicion 
and  trickery. 


264 


MASSASOIT 


Tuspaquust  has  already  been  referred  to  as  the 
sachem  of  the  Assawamsetts  and  probably  of  the 
Nemaskets,  the  two  tribes  occupying  the  territory 
now  included  in  the  towns  of  Lakeville  and  Middle- 
borough,  and  parts  of  Freetown  (East),  Rochester, 
and  Acushnet.  He  is  commonly  referred  to  as  the 
“Black  Sachem.”  He  married  Amie,  daughter  of 
Massasoit,  and  had  two  sons,  William  and  Benja- 
min. At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  he  joined  with 
his  brother-in-law  Philip  in  his  attempt  to  redress 
by  force  of  arms  the  grievances  of  his  people,  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of  the  English.  William  is  said 
to  have  followed  his  father,  and  to  have  lost  his 
life  early  in  the  war,  no  mention  of  him  appearing 
after  the  spring  of  1675. 

Early  in  July,  1676,  the  authorities  issued  a gen- 
eral proclamation  offering'  clemency  to  such  of  their 
enemies  as  should  come  in  and  give  themselves  up. 
Tuspaquin,  still  adhering  to  Philip,  did  not  avail 
himself  of  this  offer;  and  after  the  death  of  Philip, 
Captain  Benjamin  Church  went  looking  for  him. 
Church  went  to  Rochester,  but  was  told  that  he 
had  gone  away  to  the  southward;  whereupon  he 
took  Tuspaquin’s  wife  and  children  and  returned 
with  them  to  Plymouth,  leaving  two  squaws  to  tell 
him  what  had  become  of  his  family  and  that  he 
would  spare  all  their  lives  and  his  too,  if  he  would 
come  down  to  them  and  bring  the  other  two  that 
were  with  him.  Church  informs  us  that  he  was 
acting  upon  a commission  from  Plymouth  which 
authorized  him  “to  receive  to  mercy,  give  quarter 
or  not,  excepting  some  particular  and  noted  mur- 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  265 

derers,  viz.:  Philip  and  all  that  were  at  the  destroy- 
ing of  Mr.  Clarke’s  garrison  and  some  few  others.” 
Tuspaquin  does  not  come  within  either  of  these 
classes  unless  it  is  “some  few  others”;  and  the 
question  naturally  arises,  if  he  was  in  that  class,  why 
did  Church  promise  to  spare  his  life  and  the  lives 
of  the  two  others  who  were  with  him? 

Tuspaquin  came  in  with  the  two  others,  and  the 
authorities,  taking  advantage  of  Church’s  absence 
on  business  in  Boston,  executed  both  Tuspaquin  and 
Annawon  to  whom  Church  had  given  his  word  that 
he  would  intercede  in  his  behalf.  This  promise  he 
faithfully  kept,  and  it  was  no  fault  of  his  that  those 
in  authority  broke  their  promises  made  through  him 
to  Tuspaquin.  Attention  should  here  be  called  to 
the  fact  that  some  inducement  had  been  held  out 
to  him  beyond  the  mere  promise  of  clemency,  for 
we  are  told  that  he  had  “hopes  of  being  made  a 
captain  under  Church,”  but  when  the  authorities 
at  Plymouth  decided  upon  his  execution  in  Church’s 
absence,  they  claimed  that  “the  promise  of  a cap- 
tain’s place  depended  upon  his  being  impenetrable 
by  bullets,  a claim  that  the  Indians  had  made  for 
him.”  So  in  order  to  put  him  to  the  test  they  con- 
fronted him  with  a firing  squad  with  the  result  that 
we  would  expect;  but  which  their  pious  historians 
exploit  with  great  gusto,  probably  meaning  to  infer 
that  he  was  not  executed,  but  was  merely  being 
tried  out  to  determine  whether  he  met  with  the 
requirements  for  a captaincy.  They  conclude  with 
a statement  that  he  was  found  to  be  penetrable  by 
the  English  guns,  for  he  fell  down  at  the  first  shot 


266 


MASSASOIT 


and  thereby  received  the  “just  reward  for  his 
wickedness.”  Was  he  shot  as  a “reward  for  his 
wickedness,”  or  to  test  the  question  of  his  impene- 
trability? If  there  is  any  one  thing  for  which  the 
early  writers  were  more  noted  than  for  another,  it 
is  not  consistency.  That  this  claim  was  merely  a 
subterfuge  under  which  the  English  sought  to  cloak 
their  perfidy  must  be  perfectly  apparent  to  the 
discerning  reader. 

Anna  won,  the  last  of  Philip’s  great  captains,  is 
spoken  of  by  Schoolcraft  as  an  uncle  of  Philip,  but 
I find  nothing  in  the  writings  of  historians  of  the 
early  period  to  warrant  the  belief  that  he  was  in 
any  way  related  to  the  royal  family  of  the  Poka- 
nokets,  and  in  boasting  of  his  prowess  after  his  cap- 
ture, he  speaks  of  Massasoit  simply  as  Philip’s 
father.  This  is  not  by  any  means  conclusive,  how- 
ever, as  we  have  no  knowledge  of  Massasoit’s  wife, 
and  Annawon  may  well  have  been  her  brother. 
If  there  is  anything  in  the  early  history  to  establish 
this  fact  or  to  lead  to  any  inference  that  it  is  a fact, 
I have  not  found  it.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was 
one  of  Massasoit’s  counsellors  and  “men  of  valor,” 
and  he  may  have  been  related  to  him  by  blood  or 
marriage. 

At  the  fight  in  the  swamp  below  Mount  Hope, 
immediately  following  Philip’s  death,  the  English 
plainly  heard  some  one  shouting,  “Iootash!  Iootash!  ” 
(“Stand  firm!  Stand  firm!”)  On  inquiry  of  some 
of  their  Indian  allies,  the  English  were  told  that  this 
was  Old  Annawon,  Philip’s  captain.  With  the 
faithful  few  of  the  Wampanoags  who  refused  to 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  267 


take  advantage  of  the  English  offers  of  clemency  or 
of  the  opportunities  for  flight  to  distant  lands,  Anna- 
won  made  his  way  into  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts, 
where  they  constructed  a rude  shelter  by  felling 
trees  against  the  perpendicular  side  of  a ledge  that 
extends  a distance  of  about  seventy-five  feet,  at  a 
height  of  about  twenty-five  feet  in  its  highest  place, 
a short  distance  from  the  highway  running  from 
Taunton  to  Providence.  Some  of  his  men  who 
were  out  on  a foraging  party  were  discovered  and 
followed  by  Captain  Church,  who  recites  in  detail 
the  manner  of  his  capture.  He  tells  of  lowering  him- 
self down  from  the  top  of  the  rock  to  the  level  of  the 
camp  by  clinging  to  the  branches  of  the  trees;  but 
as  the  distance  from  the  top  of  the  rock  to  the  level 
of  the  shelter  is  only  about  six  feet  at  that  place, 
and  easily  traversed,  this  looks  like  some  of  Church’s 
exploitation  of  his  personal  prowess.  The  ledge 
where  he  was  captured  has  ever  since  been  known 
as  “Annawon’s  Rock.”  After  his  surprise  and 
capture,  while  Church  and  Annawon  were  lying 
side  by  side  to  rest  for  the  night,  the  latter  sud- 
denly arose  and  walked  away,  Church  not  molesting 
him.  After  some  time,  he  returned  and  laid  down 
a quantity  of  wampum  and  Philip’s  personal  be- 
longings, saying  they  had  been  his  king’s,  but  as 
they  had  killed  the  king,  he  supposed  they  belonged 
to  the  English. 

If  there  was  any  foundation  for  Annawon’s  claim 
that  he  had  been  a mighty  warrior  and  had  per- 
formed deeds  of  valor  "when  serving  under  Philip’s 
father,”  it  is  apparent  that  he  must  have  been  an 


268 


MASSASOIT 


old  man  at  that  time.  Massasoit  was  not  engaged 
in  any  wars  that  called  for  heroic  exploits  after 
1620,  and  probably  none  after  the  decimation  of  his 
tribe  by  the  plague  in  1616  or  1617,  unless  it  was 
the  war  with  the  Narragansetts  which  resulted  in 
the  loss  to  them  of  Aquidnick.  Indian  youths  were 
not  trained  for  war  until  they  were  eighteen,  and 
so  Annawon  must  have  been  born  around  1600  or 
before.  At  any  rate  he  was  old  enough  not  to  be  a 
menace  to  the  whites  with  all  his  warriors  gone,  and 
the  only  explanation  of  his  execution  is  in  the  words 
used  by  the  English  in  their  characterization  of  the 
Indians.  Cruel,  blood-thirsty  vindictiveness  is  the 
only  answer  to  the  question,  Why  did  they  refuse  to 
listen  to  the  plea  of  Church  for  leniency,  and  shoot 
this  old  man  who  was  on  the  verge  of  the  grave? 
What  became  of  the  small  band  that  was  captured 
with  him  including  his  son,  we  are  not  told,  but 
from  what  we  know  of  the  colonists’  methods,  it  is 
not  difficult  for  us  to  see  them  in  fancy  wearing  out 
their  lives  and  fretting  away  their  freeborn  spirits 
under  the  slave  drivers’  lash  in  the  West  Indies. 

The  “Iootash”  of  old  Annawon  still  rings  in  our 
ears  as  the  last  defiant  cry  of  a people  who  dreamed 
of  a life  of  peace  and  harmony  with  the  strangers 
from  across  the  great  waters;  but  who,  after  half  a 
century  of  devotion  to  the  work  of  bringing  about 
the  realization  of  their  dream,  were  rudely  awakened 
to  the  futility  of  attempting  to  reconcile  the  different 
ideals,  different  manners  of  living,  different  customs, 
different  codes  of  honor  and  different  stages  of  prog- 
ress of  the  two  races;  and  to  the  fact  that  the 


KING  PHILIP  AND  HIS  CAPTAINS  269 


attempt  was  bound  to  result  in  virtual  vassalage 
for  the  less  advanced. 

I speak  of  different  ideals;  but,  while  it  is  true 
that  the  two  races  were  widely  separated  in  many 
respects,  a careful  analysis  of  the  cause  for  which 
the  red  men  fought  shows  that  they  made  the  su- 
preme sacrifice  for  much  the  same  ideals  that  actu- 
ated the  whites  in  their  struggles  for  freedom. 
They  were  contending  for  liberty,  justice  and  equal- 
ity, the  liberty  they  enjoyed  before  the  white  man 
came,  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  men  whose  enter- 
prise they  had  aided,  in  their  dealings  with  them, 
and  equality  with  the  colonists  in  the  enjoyment  of 
that  liberty  and  the  administration  of  that  justice. 

And  so  the  “Iootash”  of  Annawon  was  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  an  appeal  to  his  handful  of  fol- 
lowers to  stand  firm  for  the  ideals  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  “American,”  and  which  are 
American  in  a broader  sense  than  we  apply  the 
term,  because  they  were  the  ideals  of  the  first 
Americans  of  whom  we  have  any  definite  knowledge. 

Annawon  stood  firm  for  the  protection  of  the 
families  and  homes  of  his  people,  for  the  graves  of 
his  fathers  and  the  freedom  of  his  hunting  grounds; 
and  out  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  his  race  and  his 
valiant  band,  the  last  of  the  tribe  of  Massasoit,  this 
work  has  been  prepared,  in  the  hope  that  it  may 
aid  in  awakening  a spirit  of  justice  and  fair  play  on 
the  part  of  the  sons  of  their  exterminators  that 
shall  stand  firm  for  a proper  appreciation  of  their 
character  as  the  early  defenders  of  the  principles 
we  cherish;  and  of  the  part  their  friendship  for  the 


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MASSASOIT 


colonists,  in  the  days  of  their  weakness.,  played  in 
laying  the  foundation  upon  which  succeeding  genera- 
tions have  established  what  we  are  pleased  to  call 
the  American  Ideal. 

The  blind,  unreasoning  suspicion  and  hate  of  an 
earlier  age  ruthlessly  and  needlessly  crushed  the 
hopes  and  aspirations  of  a once  free  and  friendly 
people  beneath  the  cornerstone  of  the  structure,  and 
stained  it  with  the  lifeblood  of  a race.  We  cannot 
wipe  away  the  stain,  but  we  may  avoid  participation 
in  the  sins  of  the  fathers,  and  make  atonement  for 
them,  by  standing  firm  for  the  ideals  for  which  the 
children  of  nature,  as  well  as  the  sons  of  their  de- 
stroyers, have  shed  their  blood;  and  by  giving  to 
the  aborigines  the  meed  of  honor  which  is  their  due. 
Let  them  take  their  place  in  history  beside  the  men 
of  other  races  and  other  climes  who  have  struggled 
against  the  forces  which  would  sweep  them  away; 
who  have  fearlessly  bared  their  breasts  in  defence 
of  their  freedom  and  the  right  to  transmit  it  to 
their  posterity. 

The  man  dies,  but  the  memory  of  his  deeds  re- 
mains as  a priceless  heritage  to  those  who  come 
after  him;  and  the  last  defiant  cry  of  Annawon  to 
his  followers  is  his  contribution  to  history,  his  legacy 
to  the  world.  In  the  cause  of  his  ideals  and  ours, 
humanity  calls  to  us  to  hear  and  heed  the  cry, 
“Iootash!  ” 


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